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Opinion: Liverpool’s European Dream All But Over?

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By Abhinav Vaidya

Liverpool’s ambitions of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions league seem almost impossible as they suffered another blow and managed to gather only a single point in their game against Tottenham Hotspurs of Saturday. Now, even the prospects of qualifying for the Europa League look a bit difficult for Jurgen Klopp’s men. The Reds took the lead on the 51st minute and the fans were denied the joy of three points once again as Harry Kane equalized for the Spurs in the span of 12 minutes. The last two results have cost Liverpool with five valuable points and now they stand six points behind West Ham who are currently placed sixth. Liverpool have a game in hand though and can cut this lead to three points. But a Champions league spot looks a far-fetched dream now.

Klopp

Fixtures lined-up

Liverpool have a line-up of games which do not seem relatively easy. They will be facing Dortmund in the Europa league quarter-final and the German side have been in terrific form. In between they also face Stoke City at Anfield and the outcome of this one can be absolutely critical for Liverpool as Stoke are placed two points above them and a win can take them to the seventh position. Out of the remaining eight league games, five are at home and three away. The home fixtures include a Merseyside derby and one against Chelsea who are bouncing back with good results.

A distant possibility

A Europa league spot seems likely if Liverpool manage to produce some decent results from their remaining games. However, their form at Anfield has not been that great with just 5 wins out of their 14 home games so far. In their away games, the Reds managed 7 wins out of their 16 games. So, in all fairness, Klopp’s men do not have the advantage of playing at home. If at all Liverpool have to qualify for the Champions league, they will need to bridge a gap of nine points which seems highly unlikely especially at this stage of the league. Even if they manage to gather maximum points from their remaining games, they will need to rely on the results of their rivals. Man City have three challenging games against the likes of Arsenal, Southampton and Stoke and Man United might face tough times against Tottenham and Leicester. But, having said all of that, Liverpool have another way of sneaking into the Champions league which is equally tough but not impossible and that is to win the Europa league. Either ways it’s an uphill climb with a lot of obstacles and Klopp’s men will have to show a lot of resilience if at all they want to play in Europe next season.