Champions League: How Liverpool stack up against Manchester United, Aston Villa and Brighton

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from DaveOCKOP or go back to LFC Live.

Liverpool got the job done on Saturday, and the timing could not have been better.A 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield, courtesy of goals from Alexander Isak, Andy Robertson, and a late Florian Wirtz finish in stoppage time, has pushed Arne Slot’s side to within six points of securing Champions League football next season.That is the headline number coming out of this result, and Liverpool will know exactly what it means with four games remaining.The afternoon was not without its complications.Palace made it 2-1 through Daniel Muñoz on 71 minutes after Liverpool had looked comfortable at 2-0, and Mohamed Salah was forced off in the second half with a suspected hamstring injury that has cast a shadow over the rest of the campaign.But Wirtz settled the nerves deep into added time, and Liverpool climb to fourth in the table on 58 points as a result.The race for the top five is as congested as it has been all season.Manchester United sit third on 58 points but have an extra game to play this weekend, meaning Michael Carrick’s side could move clear of the pack before the week is out.Aston Villa are fifth, also on 58 points, but carry the added complication of a Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest running alongside their league campaign, which gives Unai Emery a serious squad management headache over the coming weeks.Brighton are the danger from below.Fabian Hurzeler’s side sit sixth on 50 points following a midweek win over Chelsea, and their next three fixtures — Newcastle away, Wolves at home, Leeds away, are as favourable as any team in the chasing pack could ask for.Bournemouth are seventh on 49 points but let themselves down badly in midweek, conceding a stoppage-time equaliser against Leeds that may prove to be a damaging blow to their Champions League ambitions.Chelsea, sitting eighth on 48 points, look the most likely to fall away, with Liam Rosenior already paying the price for a run of poor form that has left the Blues needing a near-perfect finish just to secure any kind of European spot.The points are one thing, but the fixtures tell an even more revealing story, and this is where Liverpool’s path gets genuinely interesting.Slot’s side face Manchester United away on May 3, Chelsea at Anfield on May 9, Aston Villa away on May 17, and Brentford at home on May 24.Three of those four opponents are direct rivals for the top five, which means Liverpool are essentially playing their own qualification battle in almost every remaining game.Six points from those four fixtures should be enough to confirm their place in the Champions League, but none of those games will be straightforward.Manchester United have the clearest run to the finishing line.If Carrick’s side beat Brentford on Monday, they move to the brink of confirmation and can then approach the Liverpool fixture at Old Trafford on May 3 with significantly less pressure.Their remaining games after that are Sunderland away and Nottingham Forest at home, which on paper is a manageable finish to the season.Aston Villa’s situation is more complicated.They face Tottenham at home and already-relegated Burnley away in their next two league games, which should deliver six points without too much difficulty.But the Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest sitting in the middle of all this gives Emery a rotation puzzle that Liverpool and United simply do not have to deal with.That distraction could prove costly.Brighton’s run looks appealing on paper, but they need at least one of the three sides above them to drop eight points across their remaining fixtures, which is a significant ask.Their Champions League dream is alive, but it depends almost entirely on others making mistakes.For Liverpool, the equation is simple enough, six points from four games.The hard part is that the schedule makes nothing simple at all. champions league