Joe Allen backs Liverpool for top four finish after crucial victory

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Joe Allen is confident that Liverpool will continue their fine form this weekend…

Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen believes the Reds answered Manchester United’s top four challenge on Monday, with our 1-0 win over Swansea City ensuring we kept pace with Louis van Gaal’s side.

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The Red Devils briefly moved five points clear of us with their 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, but we closed back to within two points after our positive result at the Liberty Stadium.

With the race for the Champions League places hotting up, our win in Wales means that we can now move above Manchester United, if we beat the old enemy at Anfield on next weekend.

For Allen, Liverpool’s first win at his former club Swansea since 1982, was a clear sign that the Reds have put their patchy early season form behind them, and are ready to ramp up the pressure on the sides above them in the table.

The 25-year-old, who was quoted by the Daily Mirror, said of Sunday’s upcoming fixture: “It will be significant, I’m sure,” he said. “It’s one that as players you always look forward to.

“It was important, with them getting three points at the weekend, that we answered with three points ourselves to keep within touching distance.”

Discussing the Swansea win, he added: “We got three points, that’s the main thing. But we certainly did have to dig deep, especially in the first half – Swansea were the better side and made it really difficult for us.

“I think we can count ourselves maybe a little bit lucky not to have gone in behind. But thankfully we regrouped at half-time.

“It was important, with that performance, to get in at 0-0. We came out and gave a much better account of ourselves and got the three points. The manager said we needed to be better in all aspects of our game, and that was fair enough.

“We weren’t quite at the races. But we tweaked a couple of things; we limited them to very little in the second half and obviously got the goal ourselves.”

Allen had previously missed our previous game, against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, with a hip problem, but returned to the side with an impressive performance against the Swans.

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