They couldn't, could they?
Such has been the underwhelming nature of much of Liverpool's campaign, the only time they have been in the top four was way back after their opening draw at Fulham - and that was purely on the basis it was only the second game of the entire Premier League season with Arsenal having won at Crystal Palace the previous night.
Since then, though, the Reds' struggles have been underlined by their league placing this season, down in 16th after the first three games, back up to fifth a few weeks later, flitting around the top half for much of the opening half of the term before slumping to 10th in early February after the dire 3-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Even as recently as the 6-1 win over Leeds United last month, Jurgen Klopp's side were still flailing in eighth place. But with that record-breaking triumph at Elland Road having sparked a run of six successive victories, Liverpool have now rekindled hopes of Champions League qualification that appeared a pipedream mere weeks ago.
It will, of course, still be quite a task. Newcastle United, on 65 points in third, and Manchester United, a point ahead of the Reds on 63 in fourth, both have an extra game to play,
And while Liverpool's final three games - the visit of Aston Villa sandwiched by trips to relegation-threatened Leicester City and Southampton - are winnable, the Reds almost certainly require maximum points to have any chance of securing a top-four berth.
But their main rivals are stumbling somewhat towards the finishing line. Newcastle have been beaten in two of their last five games, while United have dropped a whopping 16 points in their last nine Premier League outings, including losing in the past week at Brighton and West Ham United.
United undoubtedly have the easier run-in - none of their remaining four games are against teams with much to play for, and three are at home - with Newcastle having trickier assignments against strugglers Leeds and Leicester along with a home clash against Europe-chasing Brighton, who themselves were in the hunt for the top four until Monday's dreadful 5-1 home loss to Everton.
Liverpool, though, can take hope from recent history, with teams having successfully bridged gaps in the last three games to finish in the Champions League qualification berths.
Indeed, it was only last season that Tottenham Hotspur found themselves in a similar position to the Reds, four points off fourth-placed Arsenal with three games to play. Admittedly, there was an element of control with Spurs beating their neighbours 3-0 in the next game. But it still required the Gunners to then lose at Newcastle in their penultimate fixture and Tottenham to win at home to Burnley and away at Norwich City to secure a Champions League place.
The year before, it was Liverpool who hauled in the teams above them. The Reds, with a game in hand, were down in sixth with their near rivals having three matches remaining, West Ham a point ahead on 58, Leicester on 63 and Chelsea on 64 points.
Klopp's side won their final four games to overhaul the Hammers while both Leicester and Chelsea lost two of their final three games. Liverpool ended up finishing third.
While Manchester United beat Leicester City in a last-day shoot-out between the pair to climb above the Foxes into fourth place in 2020, previously there have been few instances of a late arrival into the Champions League places, arguably the most notable of which saw Arsenal leapfrog Tottenham in 2006 after the Spurs squad were struck by food poisoning ahead of their final-day defeat against West Ham. And Liverpool infamously drew at Sheffield Wednesday on the final day in 1997 to drop from second to fourth when only the top three earned Champions League qualification.
They may only have a slim chance of a top-four finish. But Liverpool know better than most that securing a place in Europe's elite competition isn't always as straightforward as it should be during the closing weeks of the season.
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