JURGEN Klopp has given up on Liverpool finishing in the top three positions in the Premier League this season, focusing his attention on the pursuit of a UEFA Champions League ticket.
Liverpool racked up their third straight Premier League win on Monday by beating Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park.
The victory took the Reds to sixth in the table, 15 points off leaders Arsenal and five behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand.
Liverpool are also eight points behind second-placed Newcastle United and potentially 10 adrift of Manchester City if the champions beat Leeds United tonight.
When he was asked if his focus was solely finishing in the top four positions, Klopp said there was little hope of ending up higher.
“Look, we have to be the pain in the backside for everybody. That’s how it is. Of course, we have to chase,” the Liverpool manager said.
“We are not in the best position, there’s [a] difference between us and other teams, we all know that. The first two [or] three are maybe too far away, I don’t know, if they win all the games then we have no chance.
“But we have teams, we are there, they are in the Champions League spots at the moment. We have to do our part, we have to do our part and that means winning football games and we will see how close we can get.”
Liverpool welcome Leicester City on Friday and a win would take Klopp’s side to within two points of the top four.
“But, of course, it must be the target to qualify for the Champions League and for that we have a lot of games to go for and we all have to go through difficult moments in games, between games, after games, all these kind of things,” the German added.
“Of course, we go for that, there’s no doubt about it. We don’t think we have it – not at all. Because all the teams up there played an exceptional season, but as long as we can see them, we will fight for getting it. That’s it.”
