Jurgen Klopp confident Liverpool will finish in top four: This is why

JURGEN KLOPP says he has "no fear" Liverpool will slip out of the Champions League places during the title run-in, insisting the chasing pack will help his side out.

Posted Monday, May 01, 2017 by Express.co.uk

Jurgen Klopp is confident Liverpool will finish in the top four

Liverpool need to bounce back from the disappointment of defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace when they line up against Watford at Vicarage Road tonight, but the German maintains there are no fraying nerves.

"I didn't feel anything like this [fear] in the last few weeks. The situation is like it is and if you look at the points everything is good," Jurgen Klopp said.

"Look at the number of games played and it is 'Oh', but it is not like it looks. It is easy mathematics to know what points the other teams can get, but they have to play against each other.

"No team of the teams we fight with for the top-four finish can win all the games."

Klopp's optimistic conclusions have some validity with Manchester United still to play Arsenal and Spurs and the Gunners hosting Everton on the final day of the season. Yet Liverpool's fate no longer rests in their own hands.

The last time they travelled to Watford, in December 2015, they were given a bloody nose, losing 3-0. Klopp may not be entertaining thoughts of defeat tonight but remains wary of the threat posed by the Hornets, particularly from set-pieces.

"Watford are different since then - different manager, different players - and we are different too. You can't compare," said Klopp, who is hopeful Adam Lallana could figure after missing the last five league matches with a thigh injury.

"It's not about the place, Watford, but they are a physical team with a lot of tall players so we have to deal with throw-ins and all that stuff."

Watford manager Walter Mazzarri has a different game in mind - the six-goal spanking Liverpool dished out to the Hornets in October, his heaviest defeat as a manager.

"I actually feel very bad after every defeat - I don't sleep that night," he said.

"If I lose 1-0 I don't sleep for one night. If we let in six I don't sleep for six nights! Every goal is a missed night."

Mazzari insisted his players should be desperate to wipe out the memory of that 6-1 humiliation.

He said: "There is nothing personal in football for a manager. We just think about our team.

"But it is clear that if I were a Watford player I would give more than I generally would because this is pride. If I were a player I would give my best because of my pride.

"Liverpool will be very angry because they've just lost at home and I hope my team will be more angry than they are because we let in six goals in our last game against them."

Midfielder Valon Behrami and defender Craig Cathcart face fitness tests.