Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his side will embrace the challenge of playing in the Europa League if they fall short in the top-four race.
The Reds have endured a troubled campaign and could miss out on a place in next season’s Champions League for the first time in the Klopp era.
After rallying to a 2-1 comeback over West Ham United on Wednesday, Klopp’s side currently find themselves in seventh place in the Premier League standings, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who have a game in hand.
Their chances of finishing in the Europa League places far outweigh their top four hopes, with just one point separating them from fifth place Tottenham Hotspur.
However, Klopp insists his side will take whatever they can at the end of the season as they focus on finishing a topsy-turvy campaign strongly.
“We’ll take what we get – that’s how it is,” Klopp said (via The Athletic).
“It’s not that at the start of the season, we said that qualifying for the Europa League would be fantastic, but this season taught us a few things. If it’s the Europa League, it’s absolutely fine.
“What we qualify for isn’t interesting for me currently. I want to create a basis that we qualify for the best possible scenario pretty much. Let’s squeeze everything out.
“If we get nothing for that at the end of the season, then it will be because we didn’t create that situation earlier in the year. Whatever happens over these final weeks will be very important for next season.”
Liverpool have built a head of steam approaching the final stage of the season, winning their last three league matches – the first time they have managed such a run of form this term.
They welcome out-of-sorts Tottenham to Anfield on Sunday evening, looking to stretch their current winning run and close the gap on the top four places.
