Despite the painful beginning of the year that this club has seen, there is still definitely a top 4 possibility if we really analyze what there is in front of us. Forget the “Liverpool could get relegated” claims from the beginning of the year and notice that Kenny has gained the 2nd most points this half of the season behind only Manchester United.
Sitting at fifth place based on goal difference, Liverpool is just 7 points off of fourth place which is held by Manchester City. Let’s be realistic here: 7 points is a lot to overcome with just 3 games left for us and 4 games left for City. Still being realistic however, it’s certainly not impossible.
April was a good month for a recently in form Manchester City, taking 9 points out of the possible 12. The only loss came to us, 3-0 :)
However, May is going to be a tough month for City with the FA Cup final and four league games still to play. Let’s analyze their schedule and who the have left to play:
Man City has left to play Everton, a team they lost 2-1 to back in December, Tottenham, a team they drew at the season opener, Stoke City, who they drew 1-1, and Bolton, a team they defeated 1-0. City can grab a possible 12 points from these games, but in previous meetings with these four teams they only took away 5. Now 5 points is enough to hold off LFC from grabbing that fourth spot. But no Carlos Tevez and a lacking Mario Balotelli could see City be hurt against a Tottenham side that has just as much a top 4 chance as we do, or a Bolton side or Stoke side seeking possible FA Cup revenge should they lose the title. My hope is City burns out and doesn’t grab more than 2 points, a rough task even considering that two points would put them on a GD depending on how bad the losses.
Liverpool on the other hand has just 3 games left against Fulham at the weekend, as well as Tottenham and Villa. We NEED all 9 points possible from these three games, and something tells me that an in form Liverpool side could get all 9 from the fixtures.
So barring that City only grabs 2 points from their next four league matches and LFC grabs all nine points from their next three games, the Champions League is still in sight. If not, the Europa League spot could be held by us, allowing the young players to get experience in European matches. So for the next few weeks, we all need to root for Stoke, Bolton, Tottenham (against City) and the Evertonians (unfortunately) because those teams control our fate. Victories from all four against City could see a much revived Liverpool side in the Champions League yet again!
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