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Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool will need 74 points to be certain of achieving a Champions League place come the end of the season, and the manager thinks that after the run the club went on last season it’s an optimistic but achievable goal to set.
"We have 30 points to play for so I’m guessing it will be another 23 points," he said when asked how many would be needed to ensure Liverpool finish in the top four. "That’s how competitive it’s been this year. We’ve won nine and drawn two of the last 11. It’s been a great run. But now we have to focus on these last ten."
It’s high bar to set, but based on Liverpool’s current form it doesn’t seem unachievable. Currently, the two sides ahead of Liverpool in the table—Arsenal in third and Manchester United in fourth—are on pace for 73 and 75 points respectively, which also would seem to make it a fair target to set to insure a top four finish.
Winning tonight would bring the Reds back within two points of United with a match against the current fourth place side coming up on Sunday. Win that, and all of a sudden Liverpool will have installed themselves as top four favourites, no mean feat given how difficult their struggling start to the season was.
"Everything counts," Rodgers added. "We have to be aggressive in our game and now we have to nail it in the last ten. I know the players are focused, and last season will help us. We dealt really well with the pressure and won 12 out of 14 in the run in [and the loss at the end] wasn’t through not being able to deal with pressure.
"Our game is based on dealing with pressure because [the players] have the courage to play, so when it comes to those moments, we do well with it."
