Liverpool must find consistency to ensure top-four finish

Liverpool must find consistency to ensure top-four finish – Mane

Sadio Mane has said Liverpool cannot afford any more inconsistency if they want to qualify for the Champions League.

The 3-1 win over Arsenal at Anfield lifted Jurgen Klopp’s side back into the top four and dropped their opponents out of it.

With the situation so tight at the top — sixth-placed Manchester United are three points behind with a match in hand — Mane believes there is no more room for slip-ups like Monday’s 3-1 defeat at Leicester.

“We have 11 games so we will try to concentrate on them all,” the Senegal international said. “It was very important for us to win this game because last Monday’s game was disappointing.

“For us it will be very important to be consistent now if we are to go up another level. We have to work hard.”

Victory also brought up Klopp’s 100th Premier League point in his 57th match, the same as the great Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan (with their records converted to three points for a win) and third-equal in the club’s history.

He would have achieved it much quicker had it not been for five league defeats to bottom-half teams Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea, Hull and Leicester, the last of which came on Monday at the King Power Stadium.

Conversely Liverpool have taken 19 points from nine matches against their top-six rivals.

“I’ve said a few times now, I don’t like the fact that inconsistency is part of the deal in development,” Klopp said. “Usually you win games and you lose against the big teams because at the beginning, when they are at a higher level, they are smarter and more experienced and you lose the games.

“We’ve chosen another way but it’s still part of the deal and we know that we have to keep on going — and we will.”