Liverpool finish their away campaign at Aston Villa this evening knowing victory will secure Champions League qualification
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
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Having this time last year acquired a reputation for quite rightly fully enjoying their Premier League title success, Liverpool will now aim to become party poopers this evening.
And if not sufficient to prompt widespread celebration, the Reds at the very least could ensure supporters can enjoy the final weekend of a tortuous campaign at Anfield free of any worries about the outcome.
Villa Park is the destination for Liverpool's final away game of the season with the Reds aiming for the victory that would ensure Champions League qualification and in effect also seal fourth place ahead of their opponents.
For Aston Villa, the match represents a chance to send their team off in style ahead of their Europa League final against Bundesliga side Freiburg in Istanbul next Wednesday.
A win for the Reds would realistically seal a top-four finish given their much better goal difference against a fifth-placed Villa alongside whom they presently stand on 59 points.
A draw would take it to the final game at home to Brentford and leave Bournemouth as the only team who could gatecrash the Champions League berths. Even then, it would require the Cherries to beat Manchester City at home next midweek, while Villa finish at the title-chasing Etihad outfit.
Regardless, Liverpool remain in control of their own destiny and will be hoping to atone for the dismal 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea last Saturday that followed a similarly low-quality 3-2 loss at Manchester United the previous weekend.
Mohamed Salah, who will leave at the end of the season, is expected to return on the bench after missing the last two games with a minor hamstring issue. Alexander Isak should be fit enough to be back in the starting line-up, but doubts remain over Alisson Becker (hamstring) and Florian Wirtz (stomach infection).
Liverpool will hope to make the most of a final opportunity to improve an away record that ranks only ninth-best in the Premier League this term and has been identified by head coach Arne Slot as a chief reason for their struggles to secure Champions League qualification.
The Reds will also target a rare clean sheet having leaked 48 goals thus far in the top flight, only two fewer than their worst such tally during a 38-game Premier League campaign.
With Andy Robertson also following Salah out the exit this summer and uncertainty over the futures of a number of established squad members, another overhaul is expected with 20-year-old centre-back Jeremy Jacquet already on his way from Rennes in a £60million deal while Slot has confirmed talks have taken place with other potential new signings.
The Liverpool boss, who expects to remain in charge next season despite a difficult campaign, has recently been insistent he has identified the issues in his team and expressed confidence they can be addressed.
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And when asked how far off Liverpool are from his ideal vision, Slot said: "We are further away than last season! By the way, are we further away from the playing style (of last season)? I don’t think so, but it has been less successful.
"So if I can compare this game against Chelsea (last week) with last season against Chelsea, then last season Chelsea were by far the better team on the pitch. But no-one remembers that because we won 2-1 and we won the league, so everything is great about last season.
"The reality is we were much more dominant against them (this time) than last season, and I’m not saying that we were great, absolutely not.
"What has been said a lot about us football-wise? What are the pundits saying we are not doing well enough?
"I think a lot has been said that we have been counter-attacked too much and that we were too open against counter-attacks. If you are too open against counter-attacks that can only come because you take a lot of risks - it is quite an offensive thought, isn’t it?
"So that says a lot about our intentions. If you are too open and you are attacked too much on the counter-attack that must be because you are attacking. You cannot be counter-attacked if you are in a low block."
Slot added: "Can we do it better when we are in the final third? That is clear and obvious. And can we protect the counter-attacks better? That is also obvious.
"I don’t think we are counter-attacked so many times but when it happens it usually leads to goals. Is it too easy to play through our press? That is 100% true. For large parts of our season it has not been as good as the season before.
"I know exactly what is needed to correct that."