Jurgen Klopp has rejected suggestions that Liverpool's final-day meeting with Middlesbrough at Anfield is 'like a cup final', insisting that it is no different to any other game played this season.
The Reds know that victory over the Smoggies on Merseyside will guarantee them a top-four finish in the Premier League for the second time in eight seasons.
Despite the pressure growing, with Arsenal putting together a strong run of form to take the race for Champions League football to the final day, Klopp has told his players to simply play their normal game in order to get the job done.
"I don't think we need different kinds of descriptions for this game, so it's a 'cup final' or a 'World Cup final' or that it's the most important game of however many years and everything," he told reporters.
"It is a football game. If we really - and I know we do - expect from ourselves that in each game we win the game, what is the difference? We always have this kind of pressure; that we want to win the game, that we have to do the right things.
"We have to defend well, we have to be good organisationally, we have to create chances and we have to score goals. So that is not a big difference and I don't think that anybody needs this special motivation or whatever. In the end, we have to play football and I am really happy I have a team able to do this."
Third-placed Man City are also still yet to make certain of a place in the top four, with three points separating them and Arsenal ahead of Sunday's final round of fixtures.
Daniel Lewis
