The Reds moved within one point of Newcastle and Manchester United after winning 3-0 at King Power Stadium on Monday night.
Jurgen Klopp admitted to feeling relieved after Liverpool guaranteed a Europa League place next season courtesy of a 3-0 victory at Leicester, but has challenged his players to keep the pressure on their rivals for a top-four spot “on their toes” as they continued their late push to qualify for the Champions League.
The club’s late-season resurgence has propelled them up the table, but they still need assistance from the two teams above them to secure a spot in the Champions League.
Speaking after the game, the German international emphasized the importance of maintaining pressure on Newcastle United and Manchester United to secure a spot in the Champions League for the next season.
“Six, seven weeks ago, I didn’t believe it can happen,” Klopp said of Liverpool’s top-four chances.
“What we lacked that time was obviously consistency and there was only one chance for us to get in these situations – winning pretty much all the football games, and that’s what we had to do, it’s crazy. But that’s the situation we were in. That’s good.”
“All the rest is not in our own hands but we know we have to win all the games until the end of the season to have a chance. I said it now a couple of times, yes probably Newcastle and United are not watching us, are confident – that’s all fine.”
“But we were in similar situations and you wish anyway that the opponent was just losing and you have that kind of pressure off your shoulder. Our job is to keep the pressure. But again, it’s not likely. But if not, then this is already better than we could have expected six, seven weeks ago.”
