The Scottish full-back believes a top-four finish and Champions League glory can still be achieved come the end of the season
Andrew Robertson is still hopeful that the Premier League champions can “show the Liverpool of old” and salvage their stuttering 2020-21 campaign.
The Reds stormed to their first league title in 30 years last term but have been unable to reach the same levels of consistency this time around amid an unfortunate injury crisis.
However, Robertson still believes Jurgen Klopp’s side can go all the way in the Champions League and secure a top-four finish in the top-flight if they rediscover their best form in the final few weeks of the season.
What’s been said?
“It’s been a different season,” the Scottish left-back told Sky Sports. “I like the responsibility, I have always had that responsibility at Liverpool, but maybe a bit more has been put on me this season with the likes of Virgil [van Dijk] being out, [Jordan] Henderson being out, [Joe] Gomez being out, [Joel] Matip being out.
“Unfortunately, we have not had as good a season as we probably thought but there’s still time to fix it, there’s still time to make it a bit better.
“We believe that we should be higher up the table and competing which we were doing before Christmas. We just took a bad turn but hopefully, we have seen the back of that now.
“Hopefully we can show the Liverpool of old and we can keep kicking on and the season might not be all bad come the end of it. There’s still a long way to go.
“We’re used to juggling two competitions. We have got to go on all fronts. We need to go for both [top four and Champions League] – we need to get up the league as high as possible – we need to put a run together.
“We have struggled for consistency this season. You don’t make the top four unless you put six, seven, eight results together and that’s what we need at the end of the season.”
Salvation in Europe
Liverpool have surrendered their Premier League trophy in weak fashion since the turn of the year, allowing Manchester City to move 25 points clear of them at the top of the table.
Jurgen Klopp’s men also suffered early exits from the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, but have been far more consistent on the European stage.
The Reds finished top of Champions League Group D with four wins out of six to qualify for the round of 16, where they were able to see off RB Leipzig 4-0 on aggregate.
The bigger picture
Klopp has already delivered one Champions League title during his reign at Anfield, and few would bet against the Reds going all the way again this term despite their erratic domestic form.
Liverpool have saved their best performances for the Champions League, which they may now have to win in order to gain entry to next season’s competition.
It will take a monumental effort for the Merseyside outfit to qualify via the Premier League, given the fact they are currently five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea with only nine games left to play.
However, the extra rest afforded by the international break could benefit the Reds ahead of a huge meeting with Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on April 3.
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