The Reds’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are in their own hands after a comfortable win at Turf Moor
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp described Wednesday’s win over Burnley as a “semi-final” in their quest for Champions League football and cannot wait for his side to try and finish the job in their “final” against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Goals from Roberto Firmino, Nat Phillips and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain earned the Reds all three points against the Clarets and lifted them into the top four for the first time since February.
It means victory in front of 10,000 home fans at Anfield on the final day will almost certainly guarantee a place in the Champions League next season.
What did Klopp say?
Speaking after the match at Turf Moor, Klopp told Sky Sports: “It was a semi-final. We had to win the semi-final and we did. Nothing is decided yet but we improved our position and we have the final. That’s what we needed. It’s what we deserve because this was a top performance.
“You can’t give any chance away against Burnley because of the way they play. They wanted to go for our centre-halves but our boys did outstandingly well.
“We knew before the game it would be incredibly tough – they had about 3,500 people not on our side. Atmosphere in football is massive.
“I thought the boys dealt really well with that. They didn’t get distracted – they tried to use it because noise is nice. We played a lot of good football stuff.”
“You can’t go to Burnley and hope to win 3-0. It’s usually incredibly tight.”
Despite his excitement, Klopp also urged caution and stressed that there is still a job to do on Sunday.
“We have to make sure we recover quickly,” he added. “We have a thin squad in some positions. We have to wrap them in cotton wool. I can’t wait for the 10,00 fans at Anfield. Nothing is decided – Palace are strong.”
The bigger picture
When they slipped out of the top four in February, Liverpool were in the middle of a sixth-match losing run at Anfield and hopes of defending their title lay in tatters.
However, since a 1-0 defeat at home to Fulham at the start of March Klopp’s side have won seven and drawn two of nine matches to fire themselves back into contention for the Champions League and end what has at times been a difficult season on a high.
They go into the final game level on points with fifth-placed Leicester but with a better goal difference of four.
A win over Palace therefore would almost certainly be enough, unless the Foxes thrash Tottenham by a hefty margin in their final game of the season.
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