Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane agree on whether Liverpool will clinch Champions League qualification

Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane are in agreement as to whether they think Liverpool will qualify for next season’s Champions League or miss out.

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As it stands, the Reds are sixth in the Premier League table and on course to fall short of appearing in Europe’s primary club competition in 2026/27, although they currently sit just three points behind Manchester United in third, with Aston Villa and Chelsea in between.

Despite English clubs enduring a terrible week in the Champions League round of 16, the top flight’s overall coefficient is still likely to be strong enough so that fifth would earn a seat in the main European tournament for next term.

Rooney and Keane both backing Liverpool for top-5 finish

On the latest episode of Stick to Football, Gary Neville asked the assembled pundits to name the team they think will miss out from the quartet chasing down three Champions League berths (behind the almost nailed-on top two of Arsenal and Manchester City).

Rooney is predicting Unai Emery’s side to fall short, saying: “I think City, Arsenal, United will finish top three. I’m not sure on Villa. I think Chelsea and Liverpool will get top five and Villa will [makes downward slope hand gesture].”

However, Keane went slightly differently with his prediction that “I think Liverpool or Chelsea will miss out”, ultimately deducing after lengthy contemplation: “I’m gonna say Chelsea to miss out.”

May triple header could make all the difference for Liverpool

With Gary Lineker also backing Arne Slot’s side to finish inside the top five, it appears that many pundits still think the Reds will secure Champions League qualification, despite them currently being the team on course to miss out.

Liverpool will be determined to steal a march on their positional rivals between now and the end of April, as they face each of the three teams immediately above them in the table in consecutive weeks in May before hosting Brentford on the final day of the season.

If LFC can go into that month in third or fourth, and with a buffer to the sided beneath them, it means they could possibly afford a couple of draws against Man United, Chelsea and Aston Villa. What they don’t want is to go into those games needing wins to salvage a top-five finish.

In order to put themselves in that position, they’ll need to be almost flawless in their intervening fixtures, starting with a visit to Anfield from crisis-ridden Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

After this month, Liverpool don’t play any team currently in the bottom seven. They’ve already dropped too many points against relegation-threatened sides (the defeat at Molineux being the latest example); they can’t afford any more such lapses if they’re to usurp one or more of their rivals for Champions League qualification.

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