Lucas: We've got four finals to try to achieve what we want
It may be an age-old football adage, but Liverpool have to approach their four remaining Premier League fixtures as finals if they're to secure a return to the Champions League, according to Lucas Leiva.
The Reds have a quartet of games left in 2016-17, with the competition for the top four as fierce as it has been in living memory.
First up for Jürgen Klopp’s side is a trip to Watford on Monday evening, followed by encounters with Southampton, West Ham United and Middlesbrough – and Lucas knows there is little room for error if a return to Europe’s premier competition next term is to be achieved.
“We’ve got four games to go and now we’ve just got to play all of them like finals because we need the points,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “I think we’re in a good way, of course we had a bad result last weekend but it doesn’t change our good momentum.
“We’ve had some fantastic results away from home in the last few weeks, so we’re just looking forward to going there and trying to get three points. It’s very important to keep fighting for a Champions League spot.
“As I said, we need to approach it like a final really. In the last four games, we need to give everything we have and hope the points we get will be enough to secure a Champions League spot for next year.
“We’ve had some good results away from home in the last few games; difficult games against Stoke and West Brom. We’re going there with a lot of confidence that we can play well and keep pushing.”
Heading into this weekend’s round of fixtures, Liverpool sit third in the Premier League table, one point ahead of Manchester City and two clear of Manchester United, though having played one game more than both.
Lucas added: “Of course, you look at the table and try to guess points and things like this, but at the end of the day it’s about what we do – we cannot control the other teams. And they’re probably doing exactly the same. We know we have to get points and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Liverpool’s hopes of picking up maximum points at Vicarage Road could be boosted by the return of Adam Lallana from a thigh injury after six weeks on the sidelines.
If the playmaker is deemed fit, Lucas is confident the Reds will reap the benefits in the final run-in.
He said: “Adam is having a fantastic season. He’s had a few injuries where he couldn’t be available the whole time, but every time he is on the pitch he gives us something different – that pressing and his quality in the final third.
“We are happy that he is looking to be back, we still don’t know if he will be available but we hope he will be because he’s been a big player for us this year.”
With four goals in five games in April, Philippe Coutinho is another threat Liverpool will look to utilise against the Hornets.
“Since he came back from the national team, he came with a lot of confidence,” said Lucas. “He’s scored four goals since he got back and it seems he is back to his best again after the injury which meant it took a little while for him to get some rhythm.
“He is someone that can change a game at any time and is very important for us. I hope he goes into these four games with a lot of confidence and keeps helping as he has been for the whole year.”