Liverpool host struggling Southampton, Nottingham Forest v Man City in Champions League chase

LONDON – Liverpool are near certainties to win the English Premier League title this season but, behind them, the battle for Champions League places is intensifying.

As it stands, Arne Slot’s Reds have 67 points from 28 matches, albeit having played a game more than their rivals.

Second-placed Arsenal (54) are 13 points behind but with a cushion over the chasing pack, and will be keen to pile more misery on Manchester United after hammering PSV Eindhoven 7-1 in the Champions League in midweek.

Just six points separate faltering Nottingham Forest (48) in third place from Aston Villa (42) in 10th, with a top-five finish almost certain to secure a place in Europe’s top club competition next season.

Slot will not have to worry too much about that, though, as he prepares for his team’s home match against bottom-side Southampton on March 8. There were some slight concerns, however.

The Liverpool boss had openly admitted only fortune and the star performance of goalkeeper Alisson Becker had saved the Reds in a smash-and-grab 1-0 Champions League win at Paris Saint-Germain on March 5.

With the return leg of the last-16 tie against the French champions to come at Anfield on March 11, Slot could not have hand-picked a more accommodating fixture this weekend to lighten the load.

Southampton travel to Merseyside with just nine points from 27 games. So desperate is their position that the Saints’ target is to avoid beating Derby County’s unwanted record of 11 points in the 2007-08 season – the lowest tally in Premier League history.

But Slot is taking nothing for granted, as he surprisingly claimed that Southampton would pose a similar threat to PSG.

“My full focus is now on Southampton, the first of three finals (including the League Cup final against Newcastle United on March 16) for the upcoming week,” he said.

“You guys are only focused on PSG so far, but Southampton have the same formation so we need to do much better to press the ball, so it is another good test for us.”

The Dutchman will most likely rotate his side, especially after strong performances off the bench in Paris from Wataru Endo, Darwin Nunez and match-winner Harvey Elliott.

“For me, the Southampton game is now the most important of the week,” he reiterated.

“If I make the choice to play others, it’s because I think it is the best choice to win the game.

“So if I make a change, it’s because it’s only two days in between games. So I might think others are better options (in having) a bigger chance to win this game.”

As Liverpool seek to win the Premier League, defending champions Manchester City have been reduced to battling for only a top-four place after a dismal campaign, and even that usually routine target is far from assured.

With six titles in the past seven seasons, City have rarely had to worry about their place in the Champions League in the Pep Guardiola era. Yet they will head to Forest on March 8 looking anxiously over their shoulders.

The troubled champions occupy fourth spot at present, one point behind third-placed Forest.

Fifth-placed Chelsea, just one point adrift of City, host lowly Leicester City on March 9, leaving City with little margin for error at the City Ground. However, Guardiola’s men may be facing Forest at the right time.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s Tricky Trees won six straight league matches from early December as they seek to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1980, but they have won just two of their past seven league games.

City would aim to take advantage, but Nuno knows his team have a lot to play for and would give it their all as usual.

“Nothing changes. We have to realise that we are playing a very good team who have a coach that has a big impact on the game. But it’s the same approach,” he said.

“More than anything, it is the fans and the help that they give us and the noise they make when the opponents are on the ball. It is huge for us to play here (at home).” AFP