The race to qualify for the Champions League continued on Wednesday night, as Liverpool closed the gap between themselves and Newcastle United.
Newcastle started the day with a nine-point lead over Liverpool, but the gap is now down to six after the Reds beat Fulham 1-0 at Anfield.
It was a narrow victory for Jurgen Klopp‘s side, who got a massive helping hand from the officials. They were awarded a first half penalty when Darwin Nunez went down after a challenge from Issa Diop.
Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot, and his decision was not overturned by VAR – despite replays struggling to show where the contact was.
Mo Salah found the net, handing Liverpool a huge three points as they look to salvage what has been a woeful season.
They got away with one on Wednesday night, with Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney admitting after the game that the referee later told one of his teammates that it should not have been a penalty.
Regardless, Liverpool are now six points behind us. And they could be three points behind us by the time we kickoff against Arsenal on Sunday. That is because they face Brentford in Saturday’s evening game.
There is still work to be done for Newcastle to finish in the top four, but Reds captain Jordan Henderson is coy about his side catching the Magpies.
Jordan Henderson doubts Liverpool will finish in the top four
Before the game, Klopp was fairly prickly when asked by Sky Sports if his side can still qualify for the Champions League.
“I cannot believe these questions, I’m embarrassed to answer them all of the time,” he said.
“I have no clue, you have to ask Manchester United and Newcastle what they think about it. The only chance we have is to win football matches, then we will see.”
Henderson was then asked the same question after the win, and told Sky Sports that he does not expect his side to finish in the four.
“I doubt it,” he said.
“I think if you look at who is ahead of us, they are very good and quite far ahead.
“I think we’re just thinking about us and our performance levels. Hopefully we can be a lot more consistent when we come back after the summer.”
It is Newcastle’s to lose
Despite the win, the Liverpool skipper does not think his side will be able to leapfrog either Newcastle or Manchester United into the top four. Whether they do or not is irrelevant – as long as it is not at our expense.
But it is still in our hands with five games to go. Sure, the gap could be down to three points after Liverpool’s next game, but we will have two games in hand.
With the fixtures we have left, Eddie Howe will hopefully be confident that his team can get over the line and bring Champions League football back to St James’ Park.
Liverpool are doing all they can, but fingers crossed it is too late.