Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool will have to accept their top four fate.
Sunday’s visit of Arsenal will see Klopp’s side aiming to bridge the gap between themselves and the final Champions League qualification spot.
The Reds lost further ground on fourth-placed Tottenham with a defeat to Manchester City and draw at Chelsea leaving them seven points adrift.
Should they finish the season in their current position of eighth, it will be the first time European football has eluded Anfield since the 2016/17 campaign.
But Klopp is adamant that he is not thinking about where Liverpool could find themselves in late May but admits the top four is now a ‘massive challenge’.
He said: “It’s not about what I could consider, it’s about what we get.
“I don’t know where we will end up. What I know is we have to go through this and then there will be a new start naturally, because it’s a new season.
“Until then we have to go through this and that’s a massive challenge, obviously. It was not easy 20 years ago, nowadays it’s close to impossible.
“But I think this club has a chance to go through this in a classy way with the respect and all this kind of things.
“If we go through this together we can have a massive benefit next year. It’s not guaranteed but it’s a good chance so the lower we finish this season, the easier it will be improve from there.
“We cannot care about [finishing in] the top six, top four, whatever. We have to care about the next game. We have to.
“The moment when we find a way to bring our best performance on the pitch again, in that moment things can change. but that didn’t happen yet or if (it did) then only in moments or games.
“This season we had two of the highest results in our history – 9-0 and 7-0 – but obviously that makes it even more strange to be 100% honest.
“So it’s still hidden somewhere and we have to let it out again, definitely. The next chance for us is Arsenal – nothing to do where we will end the season.”
Klopp also downplayed suggestions Trent Alexander-Arnold’s midweek omission at Stamford Bridge was a reflection of his own dwindling prospects.
Alexander-Arnold was one of six changes for the stalemate in the capital, but the Liverpool manager insists he is not the only player to struggle for form.
“He’s not as good or consistent as he used to be,” admitted Klopp.
“Like pretty much all of the boys, that’s the case. For Trent, it’s the same. There’s no difference.
“If you expect me to say he played a world-class season and I left him out anyway, it makes no sense.
“Nobody performed on the level we saw [last season] or the level we know they can.
“In moments yes, of course. Great games, fantastic games, super situations.
“Consistenly? Nobody [did]. That means him as well.”