Jamie Carragher gives his verdict on whether Liverpool will qualify for next season’s Champions League after 2-1 loss to Manchester City

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher does not believe that Arne Slott’s team will play in the Champions League next season after losing 2-1 to Manchester City. The former England defender believes they will miss out on the top five after a poor run of form.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Carragher said Liverpool would need a massive change in form and luck to reach the top five after falling four points behind fifth-placed Chelsea. He added that they need to focus on the Champions League and FA Cup and said:

“No. At the moment, I’m not doing that. They have to have a huge improvement in form. The players above them are in great form. It’s a bad idea. When you look at the league for Paul, it looks like it’s a long way to get into the top five in the Champions League. There’s a gap now. You can make up for that but Paul will have to perform well in the two cup competitions to save the season.”

Carragher went on to claim that the problems at the club were more about individual mistakes than the manager’s tactics. He wants the Dutchman to change the front four, hinting at dropping Mohamed Salah, and said:

“If L’Pole continue like this, with their attacking four and the end of games, I don’t see how they can qualify for the Champions League. But no matter what Arne Slott does, the formation of this team and the squad is not right. It never looks stable, and they will never dominate. There is a long way for Pole to qualify for the Champions League.”

Liverpool will meet Sunderland in the next round of the English Premier League before facing Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup.

Gary Neville commented on Liverpool’s arrival in the Champions League next season

Manchester United legend Gary Neville also commented on Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League next season, saying they still have a lot of time to recover. He believes that they need to forget what happened and focus on the upcoming matches. He said:

“They’re now four points behind the top five. That’s not a big gap at all, there’s a long way to go, and they’ll have to play most of the teams above them, so they still have a lot of chances. But there’s a question mark over Liverpool. There’s a question mark over whether they’ll finish in the Champions League. I still think they will, but what they have to do is throw it away very quickly, throw it in the corner, and forget about it.”

Liverpool will be without their four right-back options, Connor Bradley, Jeremy Frimpong, Dominik Szoboszlai and Joe Gomez, against Sunderland this week.