Liverpool suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at Hull City last weekend to drop out of the Premier League’s top four for the first time since September.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are embarking on a wretched run of form in 2017, as they have won just one of their ten games in all competitions, and that was an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup third round replay.

Defeats to Southampton over two legs and to Wolves at Anfield a few weeks back mean that the Reds are also out of both cup competitions, while no Premier League victory since New Year’s Eve has all but ended their title hopes, given that they trail leaders Chelsea by 13 points with just 14 games to go.

Thus, Klopp’s men will turn their attentions to trying to finish in the top four come May, and indeed return to the Champions League after a two-year absence.

Liverpool are currently fifth, but they are just a point behind Arsenal in fourth and three behind Manchester City in third, so they’ll certainly fancy their chances of usurping at least one of those sides to finish in the top four.

So, with that in mind, here are THREE reasons why Liverpool will finish in the top four come May…

First team players returning to the fold

There’s no doubt that Liverpool missed Philippe Coutinho when he was out injured, and then Sadio Mane when he was at the African Cup of Nations last month.

However, Brazilian international Coutinho is slowly building himself back up to match fitness, having appeared in eight games since returning from an ankle injury he sustained against Sunderland in November, while Mane is back on Merseyside after his Senegal side lost in the quarter-finals of the AFCON.

Clearly, Liverpool are a much better side with these two in it, and with them both now back and the Reds getting closer to the eleven that powered them to the top in November, it shouldn’t be too long before Liverpool are back scoring goals and winning games.

Goals in the team

They may have struggled a bit for goals in 2017, but if you look at the team and indeed the substitutes, there are plenty of them in that Liverpool side.

24-year-old Sadio Mane is their top goal-scorer with nine this term, while Roberto Firmino has eight, Adam Lallana seven, and five for Philippe Coutinho.

James Milner has chipped in with six, and with the likes of Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge on the bench, who have six league goals between them, Klopp has many options at his disposal.

They may not have that one 20-goal plus a season forward like Manchester United and Everton, but when you’ve got an attacking unit which are all regularly finding the net, it works out just as well.

Again, with Mane coming back into the side and Coutinho returning to full fitness, Liverpool should have enough goals to finish in the top four come May.

Their only priority

During their disastrous run of form last month, Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolves, which was after their frustrating League Cup semi-final loss to Southampton.

Add in the fact that they have fallen 13 points behind leaders Chelsea in the title race, and finishing in the top four becomes Liverpool’s only priority this term.

One reason why Klopp’s men have struggled could be the amount of games they played in January, with just four of their nine matches league ones, yet they have only the 14 Premier League games left this season between now and May.

Compare that to their top four rivals, with Arsenal still in Europe and the FA Cup, as are Manchester United, who also play in the League Cup final this month, and Liverpool can focus all their energy on finishing in the top four.

The title may be out of reach, but a top four finish would surely represent a fine season from Liverpool as they look to return to the Champions League after a two-year absence.