Gary Neville issues updated verdict on Liverpool’s Champions League qualification chances

He said: “Liverpool have got eight points [of a gap to sixth], haven’t they, with four games to go…Liverpool, to be fair, I’m 95%-99% certain that they’re gonna be in the Champions League.

“They won’t be thinking that, they’ll think they’ve got to do the job, but I don’t see the other teams winning the games they have to win, or Liverpool dropping all the points that they would need to drop.”

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2017/18 serves a cautionary tale for Liverpool

The Reds will likely finish the job from hereon, but they’d be wise to remember the 2017/18 season as a warning against any complacency.

Eight years ago, they had a seven-point lead over fifth-placed Chelsea with four matches to play (only the top four qualified for the Champions League then), but a stuttering run-in to the campaign meant that it wasn’t until the final day that Liverpool secured qualification for a tournament they duly went on to win a year later.

Slot’s side still have some tough fixtures to come, too, so while they have the comfort blanket of a sizeable gap to Brighton, they need to be careful that their top-five status doesn’t become jeopardised by the final two weeks of the season.

A draw at Old Trafford on Sunday and a home win over Chelsea the following weekend should be enough for Liverpool to guarantee a Champions League berth, and as Neville said, the chasing pack would still need to capitalise on any slip-ups from the Merseysiders.

To be fair to the Sky Sports pundit, he backed the Reds to qualify for Europe’s top competition even when that status seemed in serious doubt a few weeks ago. So long as LFC take care of their own business from hereon, the job could even be done with matches to spare.