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Can Liverpool finish in the top four?

By on November 19, 2012

After the 3-0 defeat of Wigan at Anfield on Saturday, Liverpool veteran Jamie Carragher claimed a top four finish for the club is a possibility.

“We are not too far behind the top four. It is still up for grabs”, Carra told Radio 5Live.

It was a good weekend for Brendan Rodgers’ side, whose form is improving and are now unbeaten in seven games, with rivals Everton and Tottenham suffering defeats.

It’s fair to assume that the top three spots will be occupied by the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea come the end of the season; leaving Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton, Newcastle and possibly Liverpool to battle it out for the lucrative fourth Champions League position.

What’s interesting is that Newcastle are now below Liverpool, already they are struggling to match last season’s impressive form. And despite Liverpool’s poor start to the season – not helped by their incredibly tough fixture schedule – they are just five points off the top ranked team of the five we’ve listed here (Everton).

Rodgers side are only four points behind Arsenal, and two behind last season’s occupiers of fourth – Spurs.

More encouraging is the current list of upcoming fixtures for Liverpool.

Next 9 Premier League games:
Swansea (a), Tottenham (a), Southampton (h), West Ham (a), Aston Villa (h), Fulham (h), Stoke (a), QPR (a), Sunderland (h).

Two tricky away games to begin with their, but a win over Spurs would take us above them already. There are then some very ‘winnable’ fixtures to follow over the tough winter schedule.

Of course, recent history shows that Liverpool’s failure to beat teams that they ‘should’ be beating has been their stumbling block, but if some consistency and momentum can be gathered the League table could look a whole lot different come the turn of the new year.

Should the club then make the right additions in the transfer market come January, there is no reason why a fourth place finish could not be achievable.

Another key factor in this will be the return to fitness of Lucas. The Brazilian is a hugely important player in the system and having him back fit and hopefully in-form should help defensively and also allow Joe Allen to operate in his preferred role slightly further forward in the midfield three.

While fourth place does look like a genuine possibility then, commenting on it should be kept aside until some of the above have happened; eg, a run of results, Lucas’ return, improving the squad.

It could all quite as easily go wrong (an injury to Suarez, failure to invest, Lucas not recovering) and we’re left with disappointment again.

It’s nice to have a little optimism at last, but for now, let’s just take it a game at a time.



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  • http://twitter.com/abhishek8605 Abhishek

    West Ham and Stoke away are not easy fixtures.

  • Butragenio

    forget it! It wont happen thanks to Henry the miser and Warner the donkey!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jevon-Johnson/588645774 Jevon Johnson

      Dont talk crap.

      • Butragenio

        Dont write crap.

        • http://www.facebook.com/marius.kihing Marius Kihing

          u are not welcome here..go play with your kids

    • Elric_69

      I still believe :)

  • Ross

    Oh we do love to be positive don’t we? I certainly do, but if Liverpool do get anywhere near finishing in the top four then you can call me ‘Prince Phillip’.

    Not a chance!

    • Gerard

      Top Ten will be a major achievment!!!
      Good Bloody Luck!
      Maybe the next opponnet will be another Wigan!
      Good but worse than you!

      • Gerard

        No! No! No!

        Cant even beat his old team Swansea!

        Get rid of him, Rodgers he is NOT a manager !

  • Shelby

    I’m going with yes it is entirely possible as long as literally everything goes our way. Likely? No. Possible? Deffinitely. :) YNWA

  • Gano1

    Of course we can depending on the striker being brought in come January, I see no reason why not!!!

  • Stephen R

    I think it’s definitely achievable but we will need to sign another striker in the transfer window and a and maybe two or three others to create an extra bit of competition, especially in the more attacking areas. This will motivate the players to play better, I feel, and help more goals to be scored. Wont happen though without some investment and removing the deadwood.

  • Tony Deegan

    “Another key factor in this will be the return to fitness of Lucas. The Brazilian is a hugely important player in the system … ”

    What system? Lucas has barely figured under Rodgers, and although he was certainly important in the previous system, where will he fit in a team that has Joe Allen sitting in front of the back four and linking play? Allen is a better passer of the ball, though Lucas is better at breaking up the opposition’s attacks.

    • rasyid

      well, maybe then Allen can roam forwards more than just sitting deep ahead of defenders. I think that is where he plays mostly last season at Swansea, where he has Leon Britton behind him, and he plays the role that nowadays Gerrard plays.

  • rasyid

    the possibilty is still there, just like at the second half of 2010-2011 with kenny at helm, L4 just some points apart from the top four. Although, realistically, there are some changes to be made. L4 need another striker and some other squad players who can fit into Rodgers’s tactics. Personally, I think L4 need another player who can play behind Suarez and can attack the space that Suarez left behind when he moves into the channels.
    Tacticaly, L4 also lacks penetration, as some can see when the ball need to be put into the penalty box, there are only few targets to cross or to pass.

  • All Red

    While there’s points to be got anythings possible we’ll need a good January window though

  • Rederik

    the failure to obtain a top class striker is now haunting us, just as well we have Suarez or we would be completely f–ked, F.S.G let Brendan down at the last transfer market.

  • junior galtieri

    A quick reminder that of the 12 league games we’ve played so far we’ve won three – against norwich, reading and wigan

    hardly suggests we’re on course for a top 4 finish

  • Luke

    No, this point has come the last three years. We beat a 3-0 and all of a sudden its the “turning point” and top four is possible only to have hopes dashed.

    Expectations need to be kept in check, we are a developing club at the moment and not a top four team no where near. In two to three years then maybe we’ll be close but its not the case right now.

    I hate to see our fans set themselves up for a massive fall, we will finish 8th – 6th place if we have a good second half to the season.

  • H Shaw

    Top 7 if we can acquire the player resources necessary to consistently take points from the top 7 teams and not surrender points to the bottom 5. For top 4, I do not believe FSG has the money for this endeavor. Lock Suarez in now!

  • http://www.facebook.com/antobro43 Tb Brophy

    On their day any team in the prem could beat any team so looking ahead to our fixtures and inferring they are winnable is a stretch. If recent history ie: the last 10 years, tells us anything, it is not to count our chickens. Consistency, especially consistently winning home games, this will be crucial in the end. One home win against an out of sorts Wigan does not make us contenders for 4th spot. We have a long way to go, the window might just be the most important transfer window in our history. We have a fair few to move on and see can we get a few pound and spend it on players who can offer a real goal threat. The bitters got a great one last year in “Jelevic”, a couple like that might just do the job and at least have us threatening 4th spot.

  • ianmcd31

    No where to write this comment! I can’t believe the greatest liverpool manager of my time, Rafa, has joined what was our most fierce rivals at the time of his rein. It does sit nicely to know that chelseas owner must have seen our club with envious eyes at the time. Most of Liverpools current strengths are down to this man, i’m looking forward to paying my respects to him when he visits anfield. The Chelsea fans don’t even appreciate the genius that they’ve just hired, though it’s understandable their upset about the nature of todays sacking.

  • mojo

    i have been a liverpool support since i was born and i have never seen liverpool in this condition, guys we just have to face it liverpool is going to be a mid table team for the future unless we have big name managers and not one that was managing in league 1 and then championship !

  • mojo

    and all this talk about needing time to develop , this is liverpool!!not wigan,southampton or reading we should not be talking about development every time we get a manager