Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, confirmed a top four finish would come one year ahead of their plans, but a friendly fixture run has put his side in the driving seat for the Champions League spot.

The Reds will welcome Arsenal on Saturday and later on Tottenham, City and Chelsea in consecutive home games at Anfield, where Liverpool have won 10 out of 12 games this season.

Rodgers believes this run of fixtures, with only the game against Manchester United away from home, is a massive advantage in his side’s Champions League claims, despite them coming one year ahead of schedule.

“There is still an awful long way to go and we still have a lot of work to do, but we have a lot of the rivals to play at home,” Rodgers explained.

“We only have United to play away. For us it is about us maintaining momentum and if we perform like we did recently against Everton, it helps your belief.

“I still feel there is a long way for this team to go - we are still building something here. I feel if we can get in the top four this year it would probably be a year early for us to what I was thinking.

“But you can’t always plan perfectly. We have had a terrific season until now and we can only get better at it.”

The Liverpool manager is pleased that his side has continuously stayed near the top this season and hints if they can hold on until the last 10 games then they have an outside chance of contending for the title.

“I’ve talked about it since day one – just being in the conversation this year – because there were enough times last season when we looked at the table and we were never even in the top,” he explained in an interview with Sky Sports.

“You listen to radio on the way home from games and we were never even mentioned. So it is good that we are at least in the conversation, and let’s see where we are with 10 games to go.”

Can Liverpool stay close to the top and perhaps even play a role in this year’s title race? Have your say in the comment section below.