Zero excuses now. Plenty of big games at home and there's nothin wrong with our approach.. Plus, players are coming back from injury.

Top four was the target, lets keep the foot on the gas. We are not blessed with great squad depth and therefore this might suit us.

If Hodgsons mismanagement results in key players getting injured on international duty I will not be happy

Kind of agree....however remember we finished 7th last season so finish 4th or higher is absolutely astounding achievement.

1 game a week should equal CL really, esp from our present position

Yep no excuses, have to get that 4th spot now.

please close article and find a newsagent with an A-Z of your own r3ctum so you can find a way for your head to get out

No excuses, spurs looking good at the moment, the bitters looking very poor last few games especially today.

when the 38th match is over there will be plenty of reasons (not excuses) why the table looks the way it does.

Maybe we'll be 4th, maybe 6th, maybe 1st. Who knows.

OP

Top 4 may happen this season but don't lose heart if it doesn't. You're finally on the right track and that's all that matters bud. It's there to be built upon

Catastrophic failure is a bit much when we are only 3pts in front of 5th.

It will be a big disappointment, but it would have been anyway, irrespective of today's result.

We have been unlucky in the cups rather than poor this year. Last year we were poor, beaten by Swansea, Oldham and an average Zenit side.

This year we have lost narrowly away at Man Utd & Arsenal. Not good to lose, but hardly good draws for a cup run.

I think we will finish top 4, I think 3rd actually, but if we finished 5th it won't be a catastrophic failure, just a disappointment because of the position we put ourselves in.

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It's all down to the luck of the draw. City have had a good draw - Chelsea at home (as opposed to Chelsea away), Wigan at home in the next round, etc etc. Had Liverpool faced Arsenal at Anfield, then there's no reason not to think that Liverpool would have beaten Arsenal today.

So the cup competitions shouldn't be used as a barometer of success, nor as a barometer of progression.

The league, and the league alone should be that marker.

And Liverpool have improved in that respect. You are still in with a chance of the title, and are in with a great chance of finishing in the CL qualification places. That is progress.

The season Liverpool have been fantastic. Take heart in that.

Of course, it means that next season will be harder in terms of progressing (it's easier to progress from a 7th place finish in one season to a 4th place finish the next, but it's much harder to go from 4th in one season to a league placement higher than 4th the next). But if Liverpool can continue their progression, then you'll be back among the elite, where you all no doubt feel you belong.

Catastrophic failure?

off.

You thought we would finish 5th. We are above your expectations (and above mine). The quality of football and the fact we are right up there means there is plenty to be positive about the future, regardless of how we finish the season.

Ripleys, thats a cheery post, and you're right.

To go from say 4th to 2nd would probably require a phenomenal amount of investment- due to all teams looking to improve too!

Spurs are your only threat.

Everton will blow hot and cold too much and we're not doing anything this season. We need another transfer window at least before we're back in contention.

Can't see you not getting top 4 though. Your strikers are playing far too well for you to fail sadly.

It's funny, if at the start of the season you were offered 5th, you may not have 'biten the hand off', but I thnk most would have been satisfied with 5th. Of course expectation has been exceeded, and I think deep down Liverpool fans don't think they will win the title, but will be disappointed not to finish in the CL places.

Goals have not been a problem, but when it comes to crunch time, that can be when it is difficult to score, and Liverpool's defence has not been the most solid, so it will be interesting to see if you can tighten up at the back.

In terms of the future, the squad still needs strengthening, and regardless of what happens this season, it will be tougher for all teams at the top, because there is a genuine top 6 big clubs going for 4 places.

A lot of good post on this. As liverpool fans we should be extremely happy, no......ecstatic at this season so far; 4 points of 1st....FOUR POINTS....FOUR!!!! After 26 games, we finished 7th last season.

Its actually amazing considering where we come from. If we.....no, WHEN we finish in the top 4 it will become apparent how magnificent BR has been for this club; and tbh....to be really honest, I CAN see us getting the title.

GB

Given the position Liverpool are currently in, you really should be finishing at least fourth. If you don't, then given your current position, it will be a failure. Simply because of your season up to this point in time.

I Can't see you getting the title. I can see you getting close though. Closer than you'd all imagined you'd be back in August.

You should pipe it down a little however. You are optimistic - nothing wrong with that - but you are equally as repetitive. While optimism is a good thing, humility and realism isn't a bad thing either. Liverpool, under Brendan, have achieved nothing yet. That's not to say you won't do so, it's rather to say that you should set your sights on more realistic goals. The very thing your manager is doing.

Ripley.....on the contrary, Liverpool have achieved big time. Title contenders, competing....yes actually competing with the best this country has to offer. A team to be proud of, very good English youngsters, very good foreign youngsters, a great youth set up and most important for me.....we have pride in our clb once more.

Make no mistake, we have achieved more than we could dare to 12 months ago.

You are every right to feel proud (even in defeat today - I didn't see the game, but by all accounts Liverpool played really well).

You say "on the contrary" - then go on to make the very same point I was making - that you should be proud of your season so far.

I agree, you have had a great season so far - more than even you (perhaps) expected. Yet you are setting yourself up for a fall. Either you genuinely believe you can win the title (in which case, should you not do so, you'll be disappointed). Or you don't (in which case, your posts here are disingenuous).

Liverpool winning the title - its possible. It's not probable. You are 4 points of the current leaders, but there are three teams in front of you. It's one thing to expect one of those teams not to collect as many points as Liverpool between now and the end of the season. But all three teams?

I just can't see that happening. Especially when Liverpool, as proven this season, are just as likely to drop points as any of the teams above you are.

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Ripley....I count you as a very reasonable and considered poster, however when 2 of the teams above us have to come to Anfield and the other is only 1game in front; well ifeel you have neglected this point.

If you add in Liverpools defence returning, 1 game a week, those above and below have european football, we have the top 2 goalscorers playing for us, well I think I have given enough reasons why we can and should be In for the title

Ripley....I count you as a very reasonable and considered poster, however when 2 of the teams above us have to come to Anfield and the other is only 1game in front; well ifeel you have neglected this point.

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I haven't neglected that point. It's a valid point, and given the way you dispatched Arsenal last week at Anfield, you've every right to bring this point up.

What it will probably achieve however, is to help the others (Arsenal, City, Chelsea) gain ground on each other. On the assumption (of course) that Liverpool will indeed beat City and/or Chelsea. That is not a given however. Chelsea beating City (who had a 100% home record) is an example of why it's not.

What you are neglecting, or perhaps merely not considering, is the possibility of either Chelsea or City (or indeed both) beating Liverpool at Anfield. That is also a possibility. Probably more so Chelsea than City (in my opinion) - if Mouinho can manage a team to beat City at The Etihad, then he can also do so at Anfield (Liverpool, as strong as they are at home, are not, this season, as strong as City have been at home).

It is you who should take this into consideration. I have already done. I have also realised (it's not hard to do so) that City can afford to lose at Anfield, and still finish ahead of you in the league. That's the benefit of those 4 points that we have ahead of you (with, I might add, a game in hand over you (that game in hand being Sunderland at home - not a given, but a betting man would bet which way?)

Ripley, can you lot focus on really putting your neighbours to the sword, and despatching Arsenal too please?

This would be brilliant.

Redinthehead - I'm 42 years old. In my lifetime I never thought I would say the following:

United are just not on my radar at all just now.

Today the strikers had an off day. Sturridge won't sleep well tonight.

The fact we went to the Emirates and were comfortably a better side than Arsenal having thrashed them last week shows a strong progression from where we have been. We can now go to these places and expect to win

At this stage with the performances and the quality of players we have Liverpool should be pushing on and challenging. Obviously I hope we do!

Unlucky today but you don't always get what you deserve. Remember City got a result against us with the non offside goal ruled out and various chances missed. It happens. We just need to get on with it...look forward

Maybe 'catastrophic failure' was a bit much. I just really wanted a cup run this season