John Aldridge urges Liverpool to give fans 'a lift' after much-needed bonus

Liverpool's main rivals for Champions League qualification slipped up on Tuesday, handing the Reds the chance to close the gap in the Premier League standings

John Aldridge urged Liverpool to beat Sunderland(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool legend John Aldridge has called on the team to give the supporters a lift by going to Sunderland and winning.

The Black Cats are having a great season back in the Premier League after earning promotion through the play-offs last term, and a win for them tonight would actually take Regis Le Bris's side level on points with Liverpool.

Liverpool, on the other hand, is having a season to forget in the top flight, having won just six of its last 20 league games to surrender the title.

After losing to Manchester City on Sunday, Arne Slot's men have the chance to make up some ground on Manchester United and Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification after both teams dropped points on Tuesday, and Aldridge has urged them to do just that.

"If we can't respond after a hiccup from Chelsea and Man United tomorrow and make some sort of statement then we deserve what we get!" Aldridge wrote on X.

"The first time for a few weeks we can catch up on them. Sunderland have been brill – unbeaten at home, so come on lads and give us a lift please!"

Slot admitted that Liverpool's form must improve dramatically if the team is to have any chance of securing a place in next season's Champions League via the team's final league position.

Arne Slot discussed Liverpool's need for results(Image: Getty Images)

A top-five finish is likely to be enough, and the Reds can narrow the gap to fifth-placed Chelsea to just two points with a win over Sunderland.

"[Our form needs to be] close to perfection because of the points we're behind," Slot said. "We also know that it's different when you are four points behind a team that's 18th or 19th in the league, because they usually don't pick up as many points as the number three, four or five picks up.

"So, to close the gap of four or five points towards the number three, four or five that means you have to win a lot. And that's not what we've done this season a lot, so that's why that has to be better and we have to come close to perfection.

"Margins are indeed very small because seven minutes before the end [on Sunday] we thought we were five points behind [Manchester] City and five minutes later we were 11 points behind."