'Not qualifying for Europe would not be failure'
[BBC] [Getty Images] Does anyone want to grab that final European spot for next season? That was what we asked at the end of Sunday's frustrating 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace , when once again we stayed in the top eight despite not winning. Week after week recently we've been dropping points - and in any other season we would surely have slipped into the bottom half of the table by now.
But, incredibly, our rivals to qualify for Europe also keep slipping up and it's still "up for grabs now" at Anfield on Sunday. Brentford have been in the top eight in the table for all but two weeks since beating Bournemouth 4-1 on 27 December and we were seventh for most of that time. Only Chelsea of our direct rivals for Europe can boast a similar record but, despite that, our run of one win and seven draws in our past 10 games could ultimately cost us.
I hope people don't see it as failure if we don't qualify for Europe. It would definitely be a missed opportunity, but a top-half Premier League finish for the third time in five seasons, if we do it, would be success. At least our fate is largely in our own hands - with Chelsea the only problem, as if they beat both Spurs on Tuesday and Sunderland on Sunday they would leapfrog us into the top eight, barring an unlikely goal difference swing.
A Blues slip-up, however, makes the permutation simple - beat Liverpool and we can dust off our passports. It is easier said than done, though. The atmosphere should be electric and emotional for Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson's farewells, and I've never seen us score at Anfield in six losing visits - four in the Premier League and two in cups.
With such a big prize at stake, there would be no better time to end that record. Find more from Ian Westbrook at Beesotted podcast