After a routine 3-0 victory at Leicester, Jurgen Klopp vowed Liverpool would keep up the pressure in the Champions League race.
Their push for the top four was maintained by Curtis Jones’ quick-fire double and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s spectacular goal, while the Foxes were forced closer to the bottom three.
With two games remaining and a trip to Newcastle on Monday, second-last Leicester is two points away from Premier League safety.
With the win, Liverpool has already secured their place in the European League for the upcoming campaign. They are currently ranked fifth, one point behind Manchester United and Newcastle, both of whom have played one fewer game.
“Our job is to keep the pressure on, but even if we don’t, this is already better than we could have anticipated six or seven weeks ago,” said Klopp.
“What it means to us, I have no idea. When Chelsea was winning consistently four or five years ago, we had them on our back. I believe it was the year we came in fourth and had to compete in qualification.
“We had to win the final game, and up until then, we had to win, win, win because they were always winning behind us.
“If I’m being completely honest, we still succeeded, and I expect them to follow suit.
“But it keeps you on your toes, and that’s our job; we have to keep them on their toes and then we’ll see what happens.
“Six to seven weeks ago, I didn’t think it was possible. Consistency was something we lacked back then.
“Because we had it under really convincing control, the game never developed into a real fight with challenges everywhere.”
Jamie Vardy’s early opportunity was snuffed out by Alisson Becker, and Liverpool quickly took control before Jones’ double declared the game over before halftime.
After 33 minutes, the midfielder scored the game’s first goal by getting to the far post unnoticed and heading in a cross from Mohamed Salah.
Three minutes later, he intercepted another Salah pass and spun around to shoot past Daniel Iversen from the edge of the box.
Only Iversen’s astute save kept Cody Gakpo from quickly making it 3-0 after Leicester had capitulated.
Early in the second half, Alisson was put to the test by Harvey Barnes, but the Foxes offered little resistance, and Liverpool eventually won with ease.
With 19 minutes remaining, Salah took a brief free kick, and Alexander-Arnold sealed the victory with a stunning 25-yard strike.
When Salah had a clear shot at goal and Leicester were being booed off, he should have made it 4-0 instead of shooting wide.
Two years after winning the FA Cup for the first time, they are on the verge of being relegated.
“We are all supporters in this room, and we all support clubs, so you want to see your club succeed,” according to boss Dean Smith. “We were defeated by a team that outran us physically after taking a 2-0 lead.
“I wouldn’t doubt our resolve or our attitude, but I comprehend and we all need to pay attention to the backers.
“I understand fans react in certain ways when a team is losing at home by a score of 2-0 or 3-0 and is in a relegation battle.
“Naturally, I think they can survive. It doesn’t seem right to me to perform on Monday nights. We will definitely be aware of what needs to be done at St. James’ Park the following week.
“Goals transform contests. They wouldn’t score from one of their goalkeeper’s powerful kicks even if I threw him 50 balls.
“To concede that goal was extremely disappointing. The second goal comes from Jones, who makes a good goal after Wilf [Ndidi] tried to read a pass.
“We needed to enter halftime without any more suffering because our minds start to become a little foggy at that point.”
