Liverpool face battle to secure Champions League football for second consecutive season, says Jamie Carragher

Jamie Carragher disagrees with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers who claimed his side were fantastic in their goalless Merseyside derby draw with Everton.

In Steven Gerrard’s last participation in the fixture, Rodgers had hailed his side’s all-round game during the stalemate at Goodison Park.

But former Liverpool defender Carragher felt his side didn’t live up to the performances displayed in recent weeks.

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“I don’t agree with Brendan Rodgers, they were not outstanding,” he told Saturday Night Football.

“Steven Gerrard got it right in his interview, they done OK. If you compare it to the form Liverpool have been in of late then it wasn’t outstanding.

“In the two League Cup games with Chelsea they were outstanding.

“There was a period for maybe 20-25 minutes were you felt Liverpool were in control of the game and the goal was coming but they never went and created that chance.

“They had the one where Jagielka produced an unbelievable block on the six-yard box but they certainly weren’t outstanding. They were OK and they did enough.”

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Carragher looked ahead to Liverpool’s forthcoming fixtures and suggested games with top-four rivals in quick succession, coupled with only being able to secure a point against Everton, could make their quest for Champions League football a difficult one.

“You’re talking about the top four now for Liverpool which is obviously the target for them, but the fact that Spurs and Southampton, who are Liverpool’s next two opponents, both won today won’t help their cause,” he added.

“After those games comes Manchester City. Manchester United have got a game in hand and if they win tomorrow at West Ham they will pull further clear.

“So that makes the current four-point gap to the top four a challenge to overcome considering there next fixtures.”