MX23RW : Thursday, May 16 20:01:12| >> :120:9950:9950:

Georginio Wijnaldum insists Liverpool "still have a lot of work to do"

Georginio Wijnaldum insists Liverpool
© Reuters
Jurgen Klopp's side have won just three of their last nine matches in all competitions.

Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum insists qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals is no guarantee of a turnaround in their domestic form, and the players will have to work even harder to get things back on track.

A second 2-0 win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday made it 4-0 on aggregate and put Jurgen Klopp's side into the last eight for the third time in four seasons.

However, those two victories – plus the one over the Premier League's bottom side Sheffield United – are the only successes in their last nine games, a spell which has seen an unprecedented six successive defeats at Anfield.

They head into the weekend in eighth, seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and having played one more match than fellow top-four chasers West Ham, Everton and Tottenham.

"It helps to get confidence back when you have results and especially when you play a good game," Wijnaldum told liverpoolfc.com.

"But it's not a guarantee that you're going to win the next couple of games, so we just have to realise that we have to give everything and work even harder than before to get the results back that we had before.

"So we're happy with this and it will give us confidence, but we know that we still have to do a lot of work to win a lot of games in a row."

Uncharacteristically goals have been a problem for Klopp's side, with only Mohamed Salah, who against Leipzig registered 25 in a season for the third time in four years at the club, reaching the numbers expected of him.

While Sadio Mane has scored in back-to-back Champions League ties, he has managed only three Premier League goals since the Merseyside derby in mid-October, in which Liverpool's season started to take a downward turn when Virgil Van Dijk was ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a knee injury.

Roberto Firmino, currently out injured with a sore knee, has scored six goals – all in the Premier League – in 37 appearances.

To put his form into context, Diogo Jota, who missed three months with a knee injury, has nine goals in 20 appearances and while he has not scored since returning in last Sunday's defeat to Fulham, he has looked lively.

"This season, unfortunately, we're in a position and a situation where we don't score every chance we have," said Wijnaldum.

"It [creating chances] gives you a really good feeling; sometimes also you're disappointed because you don't score the chances you get but that we create chances again is a good thing."

On Salah's continued consistency in front of goal – he has 119 in 191 appearances for the club – the Holland midfielder added: "We hope that he can continue doing that because that will make it easier for us to win games.

"(It's) amazing what he is doing. He is always searching for a goal, always searching to come into positions to score a goal.

"Yeah, 25 is a good number – hopefully he can continue scoring goals."

Friday is the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the former Liverpool manager Joe Fagan, who died in 2001 having won the European Cup, Division One title and League Cup treble in 1985, and as part of Anfield's ongoing development plans are being discussed for a lasting tribute.

The ground already has statues dedicated to Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.

ID:438895:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect13580:

Georginio Wijnaldum future - Click here for more stories

Click here for more stories about Georginio Wijnaldum

Click here for more stories about Liverpool

Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pictured on March 7, 2021
Read Next:
Jurgen Klopp: 'We cannot think about winning Champions League'
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free daily transfer newsletter! Sent twice a day during the transfer window.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City37277393336088
2Arsenal37275589286186
3Liverpool372310484414379
4Aston Villa37208976562068
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs371961271611063
6Chelsea371791175621360
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle371761481602157
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd37176145558-357
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham371410135971-1252
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton371212135560-548
11Bournemouth37139155365-1248
12Crystal Palace371210155258-646
13Wolverhampton WanderersWolves37137175063-1346
14Fulham37128175159-844
15Everton37139153949-1040
16Brentford37109185461-739
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3789204766-1929
18Luton TownLuton3768235081-3126
RBurnley3759234076-3624
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd37372735101-6616


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!