Former England defenders Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have revisited their top four predictions amid Liverpool's return to winning ways.
The Reds beat Everton 2-0 on Monday night to record their first league victory of 2023. Last season's Premier League runners-up are still some way off the top four, but travel to face fourth-place Newcastle United next weekend and a victory at St James' Park would take them within six points of Eddie Howe's team.
Liverpool and Chelsea are both down towards mid-table after top four finishes last term and qualification for the last 16 of this season's Champions League. Both were left out of Neville and Carragher's predicted top fours in January, but the pair of pundits have laid out where they stand after Monday's game.
"Everyone has talked about their form, their poor defending but they have missed players," former Man Utd right-back Neville told Sky Sports. "You put [Virgil] Van Dijk in that team, [Diogo] Jota on the bench along with [Luis] Diaz potentially coming back, [Roberto] Firmino as well then it’s a completely different story."
Jota made his first appearance since October as Liverpool beat Everton, while Firmino came off the bench for his first outing since November. Van Dijk was an unused substitute in the derby, while Diaz is continuing his own recovery from injury but wasn't part of the squad at Anfield.
"All of a sudden when you look at that league table it doesn’t look like they’re out of that reckoning for the top four," Neville continued. "I never thought they were out of it. I think at this moment in time Newcastle are having a little blip they’ve only won one in six and if they were to win that game on Saturday against Newcastle they’d be in a very strong position. They’d feel very confident and be difficult to stop."
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Carragher, who spent his entire Premier League career with Liverpool, was less bullish about Jurgen Klopp's side. However, he too wasn't entirely ruling out a top four finish.
"Klopp has just got to hope Liverpool can now go on and try to make some sort of fight for that top four position," the ex-defender said. "I still think it’s a big outside chance for them to make top four. Liverpool’s next game away at Newcastle is vital.
"If they get three points in that game then I think they are back in the equation. There’s still so long in the season to go.
"Liverpool have certainly looked like their old selves for a lot of this game. Sometimes one big result in a big game can spark something. Could they have a Champions League run?"
The next seven days could prove crucial for Liverpool's season, with a Champions League game against Real Madrid following their trip to Newcastle. The Magpies don't have any European distractions this season, while Manchester United - currently in third - could find themselves out of the Europa League if they fail to get past Barcelona in the play-off round.
