TURNING POINTS
Klopp stars heading in the right direction
WHAT a difference a year makes. This time last season Liverpool were on 55 points, had just lost 3-1 at Swansea and found themselves nine points behind the top four.
Now they’re sitting pretty in third, 14 points better off, and already have nine points more than their final total for the whole of the previous campaign.
After Emre Can’s wonder goal winner at Watford on Monday, Liverpool’s Champions League fate is now firmly back in their own hands.
Win their remaining games and they cannot be caught by Manchester United or Arsenal – and they will be back in Europe’s top club competition.
Quality
United, the Gunners and fourth-placed Manchester City opened the door when they all failed to win at the weekend – and the Reds took full advantage.
Only Southampton, Middlesbrough and West Ham stand in their way, with a trip to the London Stadium their only remaining away game.
Can said: “I think if we perform in the last three games how we can perform, then we will win games and we will play in the Champions League.
“Our target is to play in the Champions League because with the quality of players that we have here and with a club like Liverpool, your target has to be to play in the Champions League.
“Of course we knew before the game what happened with the other results, and it was a big, big step for us.”
So what’s changed? Liverpool finally look a settled team. Against Watford, Jurgen Klopp named the same starting XI for the third league game in a row, something he’d only done once before this season.
And despite losing Philippe Coutinho early on to a dead leg, Klopp was able to welcome back Adam Lallana after five weeks out with a thigh injury. Exhausted Lallana had to go off before the end but both are expected to be ready for the visit of the England winger’s former club Southampton on Sunday. Lallana (below) said: “I didn’t expect to come on so early but these things happen. You’ve got to be prepared mentally for anything. “I had to come on and I felt I got into the game quite quickly, I didn’t feel like I’d lost too much rhythm. I was a bit tired at the end but I’ve had five or six weeks out of the game so that’s only normal. “It was a massive win. Watford can be a tricky game. It was away from home and we played the last of the weekend’s fixtures. It was a massive three points. Three games left for us now and I believe it’s in our hands. We just need to focus on Southampton.” The only nagging question for Liverpool is that their final three games come against the kind of teams they have struggled to beat this term. Klopp’s side have lost to Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea, Hull and Crystal Palace and drawn with Sunderland and West Ham. They went some way to fixing that by beating Watford but Klopp is not taking anything for granted, saying: “If people think we already have the three points against Southampton, then they have not seen them play this season, another really strong side. “We need to stay focused, we need to stay concentrated. We have pressure until the end of the season, but that’s a positive pressure. It means we are fighting for something.”