Liverpool move into top 4; Spurs’ Euro hopes dented

London, May 20: Liverpool set up a dramatic final-day battle to qualify for the Champions League with a vital 3-0 win at Burnley, while Tottenham’s bid to reach the Europa League suffered a blow in a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side moved into fourth place in the Premier League thanks to goals from Roberto Firmino, Nathaniel Phillips and Alex OxladeChamberlain.

Liverpool are above fifth-placed Leicester on goal difference, with the Reds on +24 and the Foxes on +20. If Liverpool win their final game at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday, they should finish in the top four and salvage a difficult campaign that saw them tamely surrender the title to Manchester City. Leicester host Tottenham on Sunday, while thirdplaced Chelsea travel to Aston Villa.

Firmino put Liverpool on course for their fourth consecutive victory with a clinical finish from Andy Robertson’s 43rd minute cross. Phillips got the second goal in the 52nd minute with a header from Sadio Mane’s cross for his first goal for the club. Oxlade-Chamberlain lashed in Liverpool’s third in the 88th minute.

Fifth and sixth place finishes secure a spot in next season’s Europa League, while seventh place brings entry into a playoff for the new Europa Conference League.

Tottenham will have to wait until their last game of the season to discover their European destiny.

A second defeat in their last three games left them in seventh place, level on points with eighth-placed Everton and three points behind sixth-placed West Ham.

They will have to beat Leicester and hope West Ham lose to Southampton to pip their London rivals on goal difference. —