Bacary Sagna believes that Liverpool must defeat Brighton on Saturday if they’re to have any hope of finishing in the top four this season.
The Reds have experienced a far from convincing start to the campaign and find themselves seven points behind Manchester United, who currently occupy the final Champions League spot, and a huge 16 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
After going painfully close to completing a glorious quadruple last term, missing out on qualification for Europe’s premier competition would be a huge blow for Jurgen Klopp and his hopes of signing Jude Bellingham in the summer.
“I think this is a real test for Liverpool,” the Frenchman said (as quoted by Sussex Live). “All of the pressure will be on Liverpool for this game because now they have to show a different face if they have any chance of qualifying for the Champions League. They need to try and get back to the Liverpool that we have seen from the last few seasons.
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“It will be a difficult game because De Zerbi will approach this match with the belief that his players can beat Liverpool. We mustn’t forget that despite Liverpool’s form this season, they have some amazing players. I think this will be a very tricky game for Liverpool.
“All of the pressure is on them and they really need to win this game. If they lose, I think a lot of people will write them off for the Champions League spots.”
The Seagulls have impressed so far this season and will fancy their chances of qualifying for European competition next season.
Roberto De Zerbi’s first game as Brighton boss was at Anfield back in October and a Leandro Trossard hat trick helped the south coast outfit earn a 3-3 draw on the day.
They will be confident that they can earn all three points at the Amex this time around and Klopp needs to ensure his players are right at it to avoid another disappointing result.
We simply haven’t been good enough this season and need to find some consistency once again if we’re to pick up more silverware this term.
If we perform how we did against Brentford in our last Premier League game then it will be another day to forget because Brighton have players that can seriously hurt you.
Let’s not forget that our squad is stacked with talent too, however, and if we perform to the level that we know we’re capable of there’s no reason why we can’t earn a huge three points.