- Konate confident of Liverpool title tilt
- Hopeful of Europa League challenge
- Reds currently eighth
WHAT HAPPENED? Liverpool has endured a torrid 2022-23 campaign. The Reds are currently eighth in the Premier League table, 29 points behind leaders Arsenal and 12 behind fourth-placed Manchester United with just nine games left to play, having drawn 2-2 with the Gunners last week.
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WHAT THEY SAID: Konate said, as per The Daily Mail: "As a young player, I have had some tough moments to deal with already. Losing two massive finals was hard. Hopefully at the end of my career, I’ll be able to look back and say: 'look I had some disappointments that year but it gave me the strength and motivation to go on'.
"I want to win these big trophies later on. That is my aim. That is my objective. It drives me even more.
"I came into a team that came to within a whisker of winning four trophies. We won two in the end and were only a point away from winning the league and so close to the Champions League.’
"Will we struggle for motivation? It will be just the opposite. It will be almost an even bigger motivation - super motivated.
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"Let's say we are unfortunate not to quite make it into the top four. That still leaves us with two massive things to go for: the league and the Europa League, which we might be taking part in. It is a big incentive to go on and do something big so why not go for that league title in a season like that."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The Reds will need to continue accumulating points if they are to qualify for the Europa League, as Konate has alluded to. The Reds need to finish either fifth or sixth, but the only guarantee is finishing fifth; a sixth-placed finish will only allow Europa League qualification provided a club that has qualified for the Champions League wins the FA Cup.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? Liverpool play Leeds on Monday night at Elland Road before taking on Nottingham Forest at Anfield next weekend.