Liverpool host Southampton on Saturday night, with the home side knowing they must take advantage of Leicester City’s Friday night slip-up if they want to stay in the running for a top-four finish.
The Foxes’ 4-2 defeat to Newcastle means Jurgen Klopp’s side can go six points behind Leicester with a game in hand, if they can find a route to victory against Saints here.
Winning games on home soil has been a real issue for Liverpool however, with just one league triumph at Anfield since mid-December - with stoppage-time points dropped against Newcastle last time out being a case in point.
Last season’s champions must become more ruthless in the final weeks of the campaign if they want to keep the pressure on the teams above them, while Southampton could also do with a late revival to avoid the year being a real disappointment.
Their FA Cup semi-final exit effectively heralded the end of their season, with just two wins in their last 16 Premier League games leaving them floundering in the bottom half of the table. Follow our live coverage of Liverpool against Southampton below.
6 mins: Nathan Redmond wins the ball in the middle of the pitch and takes it round Thiago Alcantara. He injects a burst of speed into his run and gets free down the left wing. Nat Phillips sprints across, lunges in and knocks the ball out for a throw in. Solid defending.
3 mins: Southampton win an early corner that James Ward-Prowse swings into the middle. Jannik Vestegaard gets a head to the ball but can only glance it on to Trent Alexander-Arnold who belts it away for Liverpool.
Kick off: The visitors kick of the match, Liverpool need to win here to boost their chances of finishing in the top four. A win for Southampton keeps them in the Premier League for another season.
Rhys Williams has been doing really well in training. They are not the most experienced centre-back pairing but we have to work together so they can show how good they are.
“If we can put pressure on [teams battling for a top four spot], we can only do that by winning our own games. Southampton are a good team.”
Southampton aren’t really in fear of going down as they’re 10 points clear of the drop zone but victory today would give them 40 points for the season and guarantee they cannot be caught. Which is always a good feeling.
Liverpool’s solitary victory in their last 10 league games at Anfield came against Aston Villa courtesy of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s stoppage-time goal.
They could equal the club record of nine Premier League home fixtures without a clean sheet, set in 1996 and matched in 1999.
Liverpool have an outside chance of finishing in the top four this season and will need to win as many games as possible in the run in, starting today. When asked about Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the Champions League places Jurgen Klopp said:
I am not sure there is still a chance [of a top-four finish] but we will try and if there is one, we will be there, for sure,
"Could we be fifth or fourth and not seventh? Yes, we could have done better in specific moments, but dealing with injuries was the biggest challenge."
Southampton have earned the fewest points (11) and conceded the most goals (40) in the Premier League this calendar year. They have dropped a league-high 23 points from winning positions in the division this season and it’s eight defeats in the last nine Premier League away fixtures for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
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