BURNLEY, England — Liverpool will head into the final round of Premier League matches with its Champions League destiny in its own hands after a 3-0 victory over Burnley that lifted Jurgen Klopp’s team back into the top four on Wednesday.
Liverpool moved ahead of Leicester on goal difference. And with a superior goal difference of four, the Reds know if they match the Foxes’ result against Tottenham in their final home match of the season against Crystal Palace, they will have pulled off an impressive comeback from two months ago when, for a time, the Champions League looked beyond them.
Even third place may be up for grabs should Chelsea — which is a point ahead — stumble at Aston Villa, whose victory at Tottenham earlier Wednesday had guaranteed Liverpool a place in the Europa League at the very least.
Liverpool was indebted to Roberto Firmino’s strike late in the first half, back-up central defender Nat Phillips’ first senior goal early in the second, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first goal of the season to put a place among Europe’s elite back on the table.
Winning a fourth successive league match for the first time this season means the Reds go into the final day as the Premier League’s most in-form team, with 23 points from the last 27 available.
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