In the second part of his weekly column, John Aldridge looks at an uphill battle for Liverpool to finish inside the top four and why the FA Cup is now important for Arne Slot
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool makes a point to referee Stuart Attwell as Dan Ballard of Sunderland looks on during the Premier League match at Anfield on December 3 2025
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool makes a point to referee Stuart Attwell as Dan Ballard of Sunderland looks on during the Premier League match at Anfield on December 3 2025
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(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Liverpool can forget about finishing in the top four this season. For me, any realistic hope of that is now gone.
Fortunately, though, it appears fifth place should be sufficient for Champions League qualification. And that should now be the Premier League target for the Reds.
But the only chance that is going to happen is if we start winning more games. We simply have to go on a run of successive victories to get ourselves closer to that fifth spot.
The reality is Liverpool are running out of games. There are only 13 left in the Premier League and that isn’t many if you keep on drawing matches.
What would normally be considered good draws in certain games will not be deemed that now. They can’t be.
Rather than closing the gap, since the turn of the year it has been getting bigger and, for me, it looks like Manchester United and Chelsea are both in a good place and seem strong favourites for the top four.
Aston Villa, then, are the target and there are signs they are starting to capitulate a bit. But whoever it is that might fall away, Liverpool have to be in a position to make the most of it.
That starts at Sunderland, who haven’t lost at home this season. It clearly won’t be easy to get a positive result at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday.
Sunderland are the story of the season. Forget Arsenal winning the league, that really isn’t what people should remember from this campaign.
I watched Sunderland beat Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final last season and genuinely thought they’d be relegated by Christmas.
But I bumped into one of their heads of recruitment when on holiday in the summer and he told me they were making some good signings for the Premier League, and he wasn’t wrong.
Granit Xhaka has been immense for them and the lad Brian Brobbey up front is a real handful.
Sunderland haven’t lost at home this season but there’s a first time for everything. Liverpool could really do with all three points before it’s too late.
Respect the FA Cup
There’s another Anfield date at the weekend with the visit of Brighton in the FA Cup. And Arne Slot simply has to go as strong as possible.
Liverpool don’t have a game the following midweek so there really shouldn’t be any need for Slot to overly rotate, although in fairness he doesn’t have a load of options.
The title defence is long over and we need to remain in the FA Cup and the Champions League for as long as possible.
We don’t want to get to April and be out of both cup competitions and just be scrambling around trying to finish in sixth or seventh. That is a bad thought.
Liverpool’s players need to keep on going and have something to play for for as long as possible.
The FA Cup isn’t what it used to be, but it’s still the FA Cup. And Liverpool need to respect the competition as a chance of winning silverware.
* John Aldridge was speaking to Ian Doyle