Arne Slot has lowered his sights for Liverpool this season

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LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool's season has been far from perfect. Now coach Arne Slot says the remainder of the campaign will have to be near-faultless if the defending Premier League champion is to secure Champions League qualification.

It says everything about Liverpool's ever-worsening title defense that Slot is focusing on a top-four finish with 13 rounds still to play.

But Sunday's dramatic 2-1 loss to Manchester City was the Merseysiders' eighth defeat in the league this season and left them 17 points adrift of first-place Arsenal.

Liverpool is still in the Champions League and the FA Cup, so there is a lot yet to play for. But in the Premier League, at least, Slot, who won the title in his debut season last year, has had to lower his sights.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's game at Sunderland, Slot said his team had to be “close to perfection” to secure a place in next season's Champions League.

The top four places qualify for European club soccer's elite competition. England is likely to receive a fifth spot because of the performances of English teams in Europe this season.

Liverpool is sixth — five points behind Manchester United in fourth — and four back from fifth-place Chelsea.

“So to close the gap of four or five points towards the number three, four or five that means you have to win a lot,” Slot said Tuesday. “And that’s not what we’ve done this season a lot, so that’s why that has to be better and we have to come close to perfection.

“If we don’t have Champions League football it has definitely not been an acceptable season.”

Liverpool has won one of its last seven Premier League games and Slot said it was the most challenging season he has had as a coach.

“The players are not used to losing a lot or having a lot of draws. I’m not used to that as well,” he said. "It’s always more of a challenge after you lose a game of football to get them going again than after a win (and) telling them we were not as good as they might think they were.

“So, yes, this season has been more challenging for me as well, but you also take nice things out of it, weird (as) that may sound because I also look at how much improvement we are making.”

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