Liverpool “need to win a lot” to ensure their place in next year’s Champions League, so says Arne Slot ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash with West Ham.

The Reds welcome West Ham to Anfield on Saturday hoping to continue their bid for a top-four finish, with the top-flight champions currently sixth in the table after 27 matches.

Slot’s side have endured an underwhelming league campaign, but they qualified for the last 16 of UEFA’s flagship competition by finishing third in the 36-team league phase.

However, their potential participation in next year’s competition is at serious risk, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Aston Villa all battling it out to finish inside the top four.

Liverpool are handed a 47% chance of a Champions League spot, though a fifth-placed finish could also be enough to take part in the competition, subsequently boosting their prospects of featuring to 74.5%.

But Slot acknowledged the difficulties that await his side in their final 11 league games of the season.

“The way I see it, this is another game for us, and we are not so focused on other teams as all managers always say. We are only focussed mainly on ourselves,” Slot said.

“We know we need to win a lot of games, because our competitors for these Champions League places are very good teams as well.

“Winning a lot, that is where our focus is. Not so much about points and gaps, although we are aware of the table. That’s for sure.”

And the Reds have every reason to be confident of facing Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, despite their recent upturn in league results.

Liverpool have lost just one of their last 19 Premier League games against West Ham (W15 D3), winning seven of the last eight since a 3-2 away loss in November 2021.

However, Slot confirmed that Florian Wirtz would be unavailable for the visit of the Hammers, with the midfielder failing to recover from a minor back problem that saw him pull out of the warm-up before their dramatic 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest last time out.

Wirtz has registered nine goal involvements since December 20 (six goals, three assists), with only Joao Pedro, Antoine Semenyo, Anthony Gordon, Erling Haaland (all 10) and Victor Gyokeres (11) managing more among Premier League players in all competitions.

Jeremie Frimpong is, however, fit to return after recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained in Liverpool’s 6-0 win over Qarabag in the Champions League last month.

“Jeremie [Frimpong] trained with us a few times this week. So he’s available,” Slot added. “But I don’t expect Florian [Wirtz] to be available. It’s a disappointment.

“Every time a player is not available it is a disappointment, it’s something that I didn’t expect after last week.”

When asked for a timeframe on Wirtz’s injury, Slot said: “At this moment, I don’t know.

“Usually, when I say that, I do know, and I don’t want to share that. But this time, I honestly don’t know.”