Why Liverpool CAN still finish in the top four despite mid-table form, familiar failings blighting their season and a defensive injury crisis, writes LEWIS STEELE

They would have been dancing in the living rooms and pubs of north London as Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunner, 209 miles north, had put Arsenal hurtling towards ending the weekend a whopping nine points clear of challengers Manchester City.

But just like the Liverpool midfielder, Gunners fans were soon ready for an early finish. As the Hungarian trudged off the pitch with a red card 13 minutes into stoppage time, Arsenal supporters probably reached for the TV remote, switched over and sighed.

A potential season-defining weekend ended up ending just as we started for the title hopefuls and, with 39 points left for teams to play for this season, six clear is not as cut and dry as Mikel Arteta and Co were hoping for.

As Manchester City fans danced around to celebrate a first win in front of a crowd at Anfield since 2003 and also the fact they avoided a ruinous day for their championship hopes, Liverpool were left to pick up the pieces.

Arne Slot’s men, not for the first time this season, had been blown away by his managerial reference point Pep Guardiola. It was not as convincing as the 3-0 reverse in Manchester. Not by any stretch.

For large spells of this game, especially a 30-minute period after the break, Slot’s men had City on the ropes ready to throw in the towel on the title race. Yet still, when all was said and done, Liverpool ended with nothing.

Szoboszlai, not for the first time this season, produced a magic moment but was let down by his team-mates

Szoboszlai, not for the first time this season, produced a magic moment but was let down by his team-mates. File it in the category of wondergoals that ultimately counted for zilch. After making Erling Haaland anonymous for 84 minutes, they ended up letting him score and assist another.

It rather sums up their campaign. Glimpses of something special but most of them undone. Given we are all considering City to still be in the title race when six behind, we must also have Liverpool in the hunt for Champions League football again at five behind Manchester United.

Chelsea and United above them will, almost certainly, drop more points than Arsenal, too. So Slot’s men certainly can finish in the top four and the wise money would still be on them to do so.

Yet based on the last four and a half months – where is the evidence that they are good enough to do so? This was the 14th time in the last 20 games that they have failed to win and they have taken three points in just six games since September 20.

That is mid-table form and maybe their league position is helped by the fact they started the season with five wins in a row. Imagine telling folk six months ago that Keith Andrews’s Brentford would be level on points with the champions in mid-February.

Imagine telling United fans back in September they would soon be five clear of Liverpool, when they were in the bottom half and their bitter rivals were top of the table.

Slot’s side play five of the current top eight in their last six games so turning this up-and-down season around must start now, with a tricky trip to Sunderland to follow on Wednesday night.

With Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai (the latter now suspended) unavailable for that one, Liverpool will turn to their fifth-choice right back. The injuries are a mitigating factor for this poor 2026 (one league win in seven).

The injuries have been piling up at the back for Liverpool, with Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez all out – and Szoboszlai now also suspended for the next game

Slot was irked at full-time about City defender Marc Guehi not being sent off at 0-0 and, again, that is a fair point. But it should not excuse how the Reds retreated after going ahead and invited Guardiola’s men, who seemed rattled at that point, on to them.

This was by no means the worst performance of this tough season for Slot, who seems to continuously buy himself a bit of time in the eyes of fans with an important win only to ramp the negative noise back up with the next game.

But one could not help thinking about how they would have easily seen out the victory last season.

Back then, they were imperious and looked like they could conquer anyone.

Now, they are a vulnerable, bipolar team that can produce magic moments only to undo them with all-too-common shoddy spells.