Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp gives an honest opinion on Liverpool playing in the Europa League next season

Despite three successive Premier League victories, Liverpool still face an uphill battle to clinch the Champions League places this season due to their indifferent form

Jurgen Klopp said Liverpool “will take what we get” as time goes on for their Champions League bid.

Joel Matip’s second-half header against West Ham on Wednesday secured a third consecutive Premier League win as Klopp’s side embarked on something of a mini-recovery at the end of an erratic season. He leaves the Reds in seventh place, but still seven points clear of fourth-placed Man United, who have played one game more.

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However, it was arguably Liverpool’s last Europa League campaign that launched Klopp as a managerial force at Anfield.

After taking over for Brendan Rodgers in October 2016, he led the Reds on a dramatic run to the final, beating Borussia Dortmund 5-4 in a thrilling quarter-final. It ended in defeat to Sevilla in the final, but with United and Man City in the FA Cup final, sixth place would have been enough for another chance in the second-tier UEFA club competition.

However, a seventh-place finish would leave Liverpool for the first time in the Europa Conference League, but Klopp has refused to panic over his side’s final placing.

Speaking to the media on Friday morning, he insisted: ‘We’ll take what we get. We didn’t start the season saying it’s going to be great, but the season has taught us a few things. We want to create a basis to qualify for the best possible scenario. Squeeze everything”.

European or Conference League football would undoubtedly be a setback for Liverpool under Klopp, after six consecutive top-four finishes. And the financial implications are also huge, which could hamper the club’s bid to sign players and allow for reconstruction in the summer.

The club’s hopes of signing Jude Bellingham have already been dashed, with Dortmund pricing the midfielder well above Liverpool’s proposed £80m fee. And the German boss has already outlined the importance of his imminent break: “This year has to be different,” he said this week.

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How Liverpool could line up against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté is set to make an early return to the squad for Sunday’s Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.

The France international was nowhere to be found in Wednesday’s win over West Ham United, although Jurgen Klopp has reiterated that the decision to keep him at home was more of a preventative measure than anything else.

Konate’s return would mean the Reds avoid their three known absences for the crucial Top 4 showdown as Roberto Firmino (muscle), Stefan Bajcetic (adductors) and Calvin Ramsay (knee) sit out again while Naby Keita (muscle ) and Diogo Jota (back) must be assessed just before kick-off.

In Konaté’s absence, Joel Matip stepped in for a rare Premier League start at the London Stadium and completed the Reds’ turnaround with a header, but the Cameroonian now looks set to drop back onto the bench.

Konate and Virgil van Dijk will expect to form the wall past Alisson Becker, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson – who both registered assists midweek – bombard the flanks. An unchanged midfielder is also expected to include Curtis Jones, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, as Thiago Alcantara – who escaped a late handball scream on Wednesday – is once again limited to a substitute.

Mohamed Salah, who is aiming to score for a seventh game in a row at home, is expected to partner Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez in the final third – who can capitalize on any uncertainty over Jota’s ability to return to the starting XI .

Possible starting line-up for Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Jones; Salah Gakpo Nunez