Liverpool ‘must perform’ at Arsenal to achieve top-four ambitions, admits Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers accepts his side cannot afford another limp effort in a big game if their top-four ambitions are to survive.

Prior to the international break Liverpool’s 13-match unbeaten league run was ended at home to Champions League-chasing rivals Manchester United, leaving them five points adrift of the qualification places.

Defeat at third-placed Arsenal would be a huge blow to their aspirations of returning to Europe’s elite for a second successive season.

“We’ve made it difficult for ourselves because of our last performance and result, but it’s certainly achievable,” he said of their top-four chances. “Over the course of the last three months, apart from the last game, we’ve performed very well and we have got results.

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He said some will look at the match in London as a must-win game. “For me, it is a must-perform game, we want to perform well and we know that when we do that we’ve got every chance of winning, whether that’s at home or away.

“We’ve had a long two weeks, it’s probably one of the few games where after the international break we’ve had to suffer a little bit, because we didn’t perform and lost, but there is extra motivation there to get something from the game and that is something that we clearly want to achieve.

“These final eight games are going to be exciting games and there is still every possibility for us to make the top four.”

Many see the two sides as being similar in their approach to how they play, particularly in relation to how they like to keep the ball.

That was a feature missing in the United game and it cost them dearly and Rodgers has spent two weeks over the international break assessing where it went wrong after enjoying so much success in the previous three months. “Our possession wasn’t good enough in our last game,” he said.

Liverpool have been boosted by striker Daniel Sturridge’s return to training after a hip injury, while fellow England international Adam Lallana is also expected to be fit after pulling out of Roy Hodgson’s squad.

However, they will be missing centre-back Martin Skrtel as he begins a three-match suspension alongside captain Steven Gerrard.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has challenged his players to focus on sustaining their own fine form rather than dealing a potentially fatal blow to Liverpool’s Champions League ambitions.

“We are at the moment in a strong position, there is an opportunity to strengthen it, and that’s what we want to focus on,” Wenger said.

He concedes some unusual results would be necessary to catch Chelsea. “What is mathematically possible you have to try to achieve, but that doesn’t depend only on us,” he said. “What does only depend on us in the final run is our performances and our results, so let’s focus on that.”

Wenger will check on the match fitness of Danny Welbeck, who returned from England duty with a knee problem.

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