Javier Mascherano has fired a warning to his Liverpool team mates ahead of Monday's visit of Portsmouth, insisting "we've got to score".
Thursday night's Europa League defeat in Lille condemned Rafael Benitez's side to further misery after suffering a reversal at the hands of Wigan Athletic three days before.
Mascherano, 25, believes that the Reds. who have failed to find the target five times in their last 10 games, need to start taking chances in front of goal if they are to succeed in their bid to secure a fourth-place finish and Europa League glory.
He said: “We have got to score against Portsmouth then we will play the game against Lille as a final.
“Our target is the same. To finish in the top four and to do well in the Europa League. We know if we play well then we can progress.
“We’ve got to think we can win these next two games, to get through to the quarter-finals and also get three points to help us in the Premier League. It is going to be a very busy week, with Portsmouth, Lille and Manchester United.
“It’s very important and we have to keep our focus. Everything is still in our hands. Of course it was so disappointing to lose. We had some chances but we have to have confidence that we can go through. We’ve done it before and can do it again.
“We created chances but we couldn’t score. Hopefully we will take them at Anfield. It was a difficult pitch, it wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the best for them either. It’s not an excuse. Now we just start thinking about Monday.”
The Argentina captain's words have been echoed by Kop legend John Aldridge who sees Liverpool's remaining home games as being must-win encounters, starting with Monday's visit of the financially-strung South Coast outfit.
"We’ve got no goals in us. We’ve only scored than more two in a game once since September and that was against Unirea. At times we’ve ground out results but we’ve not played well since we beat United in October," he told the Liverpool Echo.
"To get fourth I think we’ll have to win all our home games and three of our last four away. Considering our poor away form that’s a tough ask."
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