Done deal Mohamed Salah said his done,I love you all

Jurgen Klopp admits a lack of Champions League football is a “massive” blow for Liverpool next season as he targeted a marked improvement next term.

The Reds’ Europa League fate was officially sealed on Thursday when Manchester United beat Chelsea 4-1 to leave little riding on Sunday’s trip to Southampton as their Premier League campaign ended with a chaotic 4-4 draw at St Mary’s.

A lack of Champions League football will inevitably have an impact on the club’s budget given the finances that come from being involved in Europe’s premier competition and the Reds boss did little to disguise how much of a setback that absence is after the game at Southampton.

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But the Liverpool manager was full of praise for how his players emerged from a difficult two thirds of the term with an 11-game unbeaten stretch that dates back to early April.

“There’s not a lot to learn from this season but I think what there is to learn is to say that at a club like ours where the expectations are so high – and rightly so – that when things don’t go well, it pretty quickly starts with blaming each other and that didn’t happen yet, especially last week when you could see that our people are more than just with us,” Klopp said.

“They are still completely behind us. I like that a lot. But there’s nothing really [new to learn] and I said it now a couple of times, the better you behave in a crisis the better you get out of it and I really thought that was the case for us.

“Again we are really, really not happy about it. And for a club like us, it is massive not to qualify for the Champions League, I have to say. But in the next few years, we will see how many teams are playing for that now and have the fight to be in it who will not be in it.

“That would be easier, but we still have to do it, so we will try with all we have. If we improve we are all of a sudden a team who nobody else wants to play against and that is what we have to become again.

“I think in some games in this season some teams were happy to face us now and I think that is the worst thing to happen to you, I hated these moments. But that is over now, so let’s start again.”

Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino gave Liverpool a 2-0 lead at St Mary’s before James Ward-Prowse and Kamaldeen Sulemana responded before the interval.

Sulemana then gave the Saints the advantage before Adam Armstrong made it 4-2 after the hour mark. Two goals in as many minutes from Cody Gakpo and Jota evened it up once more, however, in an entertaining end-of-season fixture.

Klopp added: “It was a top start, an outstanding finish. In between? Pfft. Yeah. Let me start with the most important thing; I really felt today that Southampton is an outstanding club.

“When you see the people, after relegation, which is obviously the worst thing to happen, and the atmosphere is like it is, that is pretty special, I have to say. I liked that a lot.

“But then we are 2-0 up, and you know that these Southampton players want to pay these people back, and we let them. We just opened the door for a really talented, offensive team.

“With the speed they have, the counter attacking, I could make a list of things that we weren’t, and that led to the counter-attacks that they had, and the goals. Then it’s 2-2, 4-2, and then all of sudden we started doing the right things again, the things that we wanted to do from the start. Then it was more or less spectacular, and we could have scored a fifth or a sixth.”

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Premier League 2023/24 predictions: Where Liverpool & Everton will finish based on favourites to win the title

The dramatics of the 2022/23 Premier League season have finally come to a close and there’s time for some much-deserved rest before the teams go back at it for a fresh new campaign.

Liverpool fell short of a top four finish but will compete in the Europa League, despite their inconsistent run of form. Everton have scraped their way into another top flight season after their relegation battle went right down to the final match day for the second year running – although the Toffees secured their own fate on the penultimate day last campaign.

Both Merseyside clubs will be desperate to improve on their respective finishes this season. Jurgen Klopp is ready to strengthen his midfield and revisit Liverpool’s pursuit of the league title, meanwhile Everton will be trying to put as much daylight as possible between them and the bottom three.

Manchester City took home their third consecutive Premier League trophy after Arsenal fell away from their lead earlier in the season. But who will lift the silverware this time next year? We’ve put together next season’s potential standings based on bookmakers’ odds on favourites to win the 2023/24 Premier League. Are there any positions in here that have surprised you?

1. 20th — Luton Town

Least favourites to win the title at 2000/1

2. 19th — Sheffield United

The newly promoted Blades are 1500/1

3. 18th — Burnley

The Championship winners are 1000/1

4. 17th — Bournemouth

The Cherries are 1000/1