How Liverpool and Bournemouth’s Champions League chances now compare according to Opta
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Liverpool are yet to qualify for next season’s Champions League after losing to Manchester United over the weekend.Even with five places up for grabs this season, the Reds’ 11 league losses in 2025/26 mean their hopes of qualifying for Europe’s top-tier cup competition could end up going down to the final day.Liverpool lost to Manchester United on Sunday, while Bournemouth have managed to gain ground on the top five. However, the Cherries are still not expected to overtake Arne Slot’s side, with Opta giving them less than 2% chance of finishing in the top five.
Can someone explain why this was allowed to stand? Apparently United are allowed to handle balls into the net now 😤 Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images Liverpool still expected to make Champions LeagueThe Reds currently sit on 58 points with three matches of the Premier League season to play.They are next in action against Chelsea on Saturday, before meetings with Aston Villa and Brentford, all of whom are in and around the European places right now.However, it is no longer the Blues who are Liverpool’s closest rivals, with Bournemouth instead making a late charge.They are unbeaten in their last five and have moved up to sixth after securing a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.It puts them six points off Liverpool, who, based on their overall form this term, it would not be surprising to see lose or draw their remaining three fixtures.Yet, after Manchester United, Opta still give the Merseyside outfit a 97.29% chance of qualifying for the Champions League, compared to just 1.22% for Bournemouth.The Cherries will play Fulham, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest to end the campaign.
Did anyone else deserve a 3/10 alongside Mac Allister? Second-half display saved some from MUCH worse ratings Photo Credit: Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA If Liverpool are to get over the line in the coming weeks, they will need to keep relying on Dominik Szoboszlai to step up.Szoboszlai was excellent in the loss to Man Utd, having a hand in both the away side’s goals on the day.He spoke about making it into the Champions League post-match, saying: “Firstly I don’t focus on next season, I focus on these three games, we want Champions League next season because we belong there but we’ll see what happens in the future.”Giving his overall verdict on the weekend’s loss, Szoboszlai stated: “Not good, we go home with zero points and after the first half we shouldn’t be happy at all, we should be who we were at the start of the second half.”Join Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox