Liverpool have been losing less of late, but what they need now are wins if the goal is Champions League qualification.
Liverpool are currently chasing Manchester United and Chelsea in the race to qualify for next the Champions League next season, and after the duo dropped points playing ahead of the Reds in the mid-week slate of fixtures, there’s a chance to close the gap a little.
Currently, the Reds sit five points back of Chelsea and six off United, with Chelsea holding a significant goal differential advantage that realistically means Liverpool need two more wins than at least one over their final 13 matchweeks. First up tonight is Sunderland.
“We know it’s going to be physical, so we just try to bring 100% on the pitch until the last minute and take hopefully three points home,” said star attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, whose personal good form of late hasn’t always been rewarded with victories.
“I know two players of them very well because I played with them in Leverkusen—[Granit] Xhaka and [Nordi] Mukiele—so I’m happy to see them. But of course I want to take the three points. We just try everything to get the three points and everything else doesn’t matter.”
Newly promoted Sunderland have been one of the surprises of the season, sitting a comfortable 11th in the table and perhaps most impressively the only side that remains undefeated at The Stadium of Light, adding a degree of difficulty for a struggling Liverpool side.
The Reds have averaged 1.56 points per game overall this season, but going back to the start of December—a stretch widely pointed to as when their form began to solidify and including a long undefeated run—that number actually stands at just 1.5 points per game.
It’s a lesson in just how much more valuable wins can be than draws—as a win and a loss nets out more points than a pair of them. And it’s a reminder that too many more draws simply won’t do. Not if the goal is to close the gap and qualify for the Champions League.
Category: General Sports
