BEVERLY HILLS, May 20, (THEWILL) – There will be scant consolation in the East Midlands club of Leicester City as qualification for Europe’s top-tier competition is now effectively out of their control with Liverpool strengthening their resurgent bid for a place in the top four with a 3-0 Wednesday evening win over Burnley at Turf Moor.
There were times this season that Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester seemed to have elite European football in the bag for next season, which was supposed to be their second time out with the best of sides across the continent’s leagues. At the time, even David Moyes’ West Ham remained in contention as well.
Now, it seems, at best, Rodgers and Moyes might simply settle for the UEFA Europa League in the next campaign because Liverpool that looked dead in the water following a string of home losses that earned them an unwanted home-loss record after a March 7 loss to Fulham at Anfield made it their 7th successive home defeat.
At Leicester’s expense, due to the Foxes losing to Chelsea in Tuesday’s record-setting match for Iheanacho, Liverpool has climbed to claim the final fourth spot with just one day of matches left. It will take a massive collapse of Liverpool against Crystal Palace on the last day of the season to give Iheanacho’s side the chance to not see a repeat of last year’s season-ending flop out of Europe.
Jurgen Klopp’s side took a firm grip on Wednesday’s proceedings five minutes into the second half. Mane yet again proved instrumental as he stepped past Johann Berg Gudmundsson before chipping the ball into Nathaniel Phillips, who powered his header home emphatically.
Liverpool summed up the professional performance late on as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drilled home a wicked strike to ensure Liverpool climbed into top-four contention.
It was not an easy assignment for Liverpool but they completed it with great efficiency, scoring at the right times to take the sting from Burnley and give themselves a helping. Returning to the Champions League is now fully in their hands. It will be to their relief after the season they have had but Leicester’s déjà vu might be consoled by clutching the FA Cup trophy.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
