Having crossed their fingers for a Tottenham Hotspur victory at Newcastle United on Sunday, Liverpool's hopes were dead and buried inside 20 minutes at St James' Park.
What had been billed as a major fixture between fourth and fifth in the race for the Champions League places ended up being little more than a procession for Newcastle as they tore their visitors to shreds during a remarkable opening period in the North East.
Two goals each for Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy alongside a strike from Joelinton gave Newcastle a 5-0 advantage over Spurs in a game they would eventually win 6-1. It was a stunning flurry that will surely leave Magpies fans talking about it in the same reverential tones Liverpool fans reserve for their blistering performance against Arsenal in 2014 when the Reds raced into a 4-0 lead within 20 minutes.
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For the current iteration of the Reds under Jurgen Klopp, however, it has made a tricky situation that bit more difficult. Eddie Howe's side are now up third as a result of their battering of the beleaguered Spurs - a team that might even have a second caretaker in charge by the time they visit Anfield on Sunday following reports that Antonio Conte's assistant, Cristian Stellini, may be sacked as the current stand-in.
It meant Newcastle restored their nine-point advantage over Liverpool in the table after the Reds beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Klopp may now be casting glances at Manchester United as the team to target but Erik ten Hag won't necessarily have a distraction between this week and the end of the Premier League season now having been eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday before booking a place in the June 3 FA Cup final, after a shootout win over Brighton on Sunday afternoon.
With United having to travel to Spurs on Thursday night, Liverpool can at least turn the pressure up on both when they visit West Ham on Wednesday evening. The Reds' European aspirations, however, could yet hinge on doing something even the domestic cup double-winning vintage of 2021/22 couldn't muster; namely winning away at West Ham and Leicester in their next two homes games.
Liverpool lost just two Premier League games last term, ending up on the end of a 3-2 reverse at the London Stadium in November before suffering a 1-0 defeat at the King Power shortly before the New Year. For a season that would see them miss out on the title by a point, the losses would prove damaging.
The disappointing nature of the campaign this time out means similar results won't be mourned as ruefully but Klopp struck a tone of wanting a strong finish for a difficult campaign more as a platform to better fortunes next time out when speaking to the media on Friday.
"So we have that now and we have more time in this period that we don't normally have because we usually play every three days but now it is two weeks when we play three games and I want to really use this training time we have to create something which we can build on and use. How to play with it and bring the boys together," Klopp said.
He added: "If we don't qualify for any European competition, it would obviously be a massive disappointment but we should make sure it doesn't waste time during that period and that we really use it now, because pre-season will be quite long but it is short to prepare a long season, so I hope we can take some things from this season which are more useful than just telling us it was the wrong way."
The Reds' Premier League season has been blighted by their travels, with just four wins and 16 points taken from 16 games on the road. Victories in their next two could go a long way towards securing some form of European participation at least for next time out.
United's victory over Brighton on penalties at Wembley on Sunday has set up the first-ever Manchester derby for the FA Cup final. As a result, a sixth-place finish will be enough to secure a spot in next season's Europa League - a far more palatable than the prospect of the Reds' fringe players battling it out in the Europa Conference.
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