Jurgen Klopp ‘okay’ with likely Europa League fate after Liverpool lose ground in top four battle

Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool are “okay” with what looks like a likely spot in the Europa League next season.

Roberto Firmino marked his final appearance at Anfield as a Reds player with a dramatic late equaliser against Aston Villa to give Klopp’s side a slim chance of overtaking Newcastle and Manchester United in the race for the top four.

Still, they must hope they beat Southampton on the final day as well as the other two clubs not picking up any more points.

Both United and Newcastle have a game in hand on Liverpool, while the latter boast a much better goal difference.

Having put together a relentless winning run towards the end of the season, fresh hope that Klopp’s side would be able to break into the top four had started to build.

However, Jacob Ramsey’s first-half goal for Villa quelled expectations and while Firmino’s goal keeps Liverpool nominally alive in the battle, Klopp addressed the fact his team would surely be playing in Europe’s secondary club competition after the game.

"That’s okay,” he said.

“Too long it has not been not good enough [this year] but we made it pretty exciting. I didn’t think it was possible seven weeks ago.”