Jamie Carragher expects Liverpool to miss out on Champions League qualification through the Premier League. The Sky Sports pundit said it is now “a long way back” for Arne Slot’s side to finish in the top five, following their 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City on Super Sunday.
That loss has left Liverpool four points off fifth-placed Chelsea. Had City’s disallowed third goal have stood, Liverpool would have fallen to seventh in the league table as they are level on goal difference with Brentford.
Were they to lose at Sunderland on Wednesday, they could slip as low as ninth.When asked if he reckons Liverpool will make the Premier League’s qualifying places for the Champions League – which is set to be expanded from four positions to five again this season – Carragher replied: “No. Right now I don’t.
“They would have to have a huge upturn in form. And the ones above them are in great form.”
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City
Reflecting on the impact of the defeat to Man City, he said: “It’s a bad one. When you look at the league for Liverpool, it looks like a long way to get into the top five Champions League positions. There’s a gap now. You can make that up but Liverpool will have to do well in the two cup competitions to save the season.”
Slot has immediate problems ahead of the tricky midweek trip to Sunderland, too, with three right-backs unavailable. Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are injured and Dominik Szoboszlai – who played in that position against Man City – is suspended after his sending off, while Joe Gomez is a fitness doubt.”When you look at Liverpool’s bench for the game against Sunderland in midweek, Szoboszlai won’t be playing now and they’ve got a problem at right-back,” added Carragher.Discussing what Slot can do to get Liverpool on track, Carragher said there are key issues around the balance of the squad – as well as bad mistakes being made by their top players.”A lot of Liverpool’s season is about mistakes you cannot believe from players of that calibre,” he said. “Virgil van Dijk at Bournemouth, Alisson [against Man City]. You can’t…
2026-02-08 20:00:00
