One prominent Liverpool journalist has suggested that a minimum of nine points from the Reds’ final six Premier League games of the season could be enough to secure Champions League football for 2026/27.
Arne Slot’s side currently occupy the fifth and final berth from the English top flight to qualify for Europe’s primary club competition, and their win over Fulham last weekend (combined with results elsewhere) has given them a four-point buffer over nearest pursuers Chelsea.
However, five of our remaining six matches are against teams in the current top eight, including a tough assignment away to Merseyside neigbours Everton on Sunday, prior to which Wayne Rooney has made some incendiary comments about the Reds.
David Lynch believes that Liverpool still have plenty of work to do if they’re to finish in the Champions League places, which he’s said is ‘really, really important for the club in the long-term future’, but is confident that a perfect record at Anfield in the run-in may get them over the line.
He told Anfield Index about the Reds’ top-five prospects: “I’m still sceptical, if I’m being honest. [There are] an awful lot of tests still left in there…If they do win their Anfield games, then that would probably be enough.”
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Liverpool’s three remaining home matches are all against London opposition – Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Brentford, each of whom beat the Reds in the respective reverse fixtures in the autumn.
Considering that our last three away matches pit us against Everton, Manchester United and Aston Villa, it’s imperative that maximum points are collected at Anfield to allow for some leeway in those daunting visits to our rivals in the European race.
Three home wins would give LFC a minimum of 61 points, and the most that sixth-placed Chelsea would be able to collect in that scenario is 63 (as they’d have lost on Merseyside), so Lynch’s logic is fairly sound.
In theory the task sounds simple, but this season Liverpool’s home ground hasn’t been the fortress of recent years, with seven of the 16 Premier League visitors to Anfield this term leaving with at least a point.
Four points from the next two games against Everton and Palace wouldn’t be a terrible return in the circumstances, especially if Chelsea were to slip up themselves in that time, but the Reds’ inconsistent nature over the past few months could have fans on edge in the run-in to the campaign.
LFC are in a strong position for a top-five finish as it stands; they absolutely must use that to their advantage.
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