Arne Slot speaking to the media
Arne Slot speaking to the media
Arne Slot has admitted he is well-aware that failure to qualify for the next season will be unacceptable for a club like Liverpool. The reigning champions were beaten 2-1 by Manchester City on Sunday - a result that left them four points off fifth-placed Chelsea.
However, had City's disallowed third goal been allowed to stand, then the Reds would have fallen to seventh in the league table, as they are level on goal difference with Brentford. Although Slot's side are still in Europe's elite-level competition, having booked their place in the last 16 last month, they will need a good league finish as a fall-back option if they do not win it.
, Slot opened up on the importance of qualifying for next season's Champions League by admitting: "Yes, if we don't have Champions League football, it is definitely not been an acceptable season.
"The season I arrived here, we could only sign and that was after a season. So it does have an enormous impact on the way this club is run. So I'm completely aware of that."
With both Manchester United and Chelsea, who are fourth and fifth, in action tonight, the gap could be even greater before walk out at Sunderland, and admitted that his side need to be "close to perfection" for the rest of the campaign to qualify for next season's Champions League.
"[We have to be] close to perfection because of the points we are behind," the Dutchman said.
"We also know it is different when you are four points behind a team that are 18th or 19th in the league because they usually don't pick up as many points as the number three, four or five picks up, so to close the gap to numbers three, four and five, that means you have to win a lot and that is not what we have done this season a lot, so that is why that has to be better and that is why we have to be close to perfection.
"Margins are indeed very small because seven minutes before the end we were five points behind City and five minutes later we were 11 points behind."
......
For the latest news and breaking news, visit . Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
Follow us on @LivEchoLFC - the official Liverpool ECHO LFC Twitter account - for all the latest LFC news as it happens in real time.
We're also on /LiverpoolEchoLFC - your must-see LFC news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Liverpool ECHO.
Listen to our podcasts by searching for 'Blood Red' wherever you get your podcasts.
Sign up for one of the Liverpool Echo's free daily and weekly newsletters on .