Liverpool face an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League, but Andrew Robertson insists that is where the Reds belong.
Andrew Robertson warned Liverpool team-mates they cannot afford to make any more mistakes if they are to meet their minimum expectation of Champions League qualification.
The Reds have endured a disappointing season, with Jurgen Klopp’s efforts not helped by a number of serious injuries to key players.
Last season Liverpool won the EFL Cup and FA Cup double, reached the Champions League final and finished just a point behind Premier League winners Manchester City.
However, they have failed to defend a single cup crown this term, crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage and face an uphill battle for a top-four finish at home.
Sixth-placed Liverpool are seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, and although the Reds have two games in hand on Spurs, so do Newcastle United, who are just a single point behind the north Londoners.
The underwhelming nature of Liverpool’s campaign is not lost on Robertson, who thinks he is in last place if he wants to beat Spurs and Newcastle – who now face back-to-back games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
“The motivations are exactly the same,” he told reporters ahead of Saturday’s trip to City. “We want Champions League football, so the motivation is the same as if we were going for trophies.
“Obviously it’s a big week; we’re playing against three big teams and it’s going to be an intense week, but that’s what you look forward to when you come to this club. These are the big games you want to be involved in.”
“We don’t want to be in this position and… we don’t really have time to waste, there are no mistakes left in us if we want to reach the top four.”
He added: “[Expectations] have to be at the highest level when you play at this club – you can’t not do it, the people around the club demand it. I think we’re doing that, but we’ve just lacked a bit of consistency this season.
“Over the last five or six years, consistency is the only word that would be in our name, the way we’ve always shown up and even when it wasn’t in our power, we still managed to grind out results. We didn’t do that.” this season and we have to fix that.”
Despite the struggles this season, Robertson remains adamant that Liverpool belong in the Champions League.
But he acknowledges the Reds cannot take qualification for granted.
“To go into April and not be in the Champions League, FA Cup or League Cup and then not be in contention for the title is so disappointing – it’s a position we don’t want to be in.
“We are out of every competition but we still believe we are a team that can compete in every competition.
“To put it right, we have to compete in these tournaments again next season and the only way to do that is to finish in the top four.
“So we’ve got 12 games to put it right and we’re determined to give it our all in those next 12 games.
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