Liverpool great John Aldridge says they only have themselves to blame for their top four battle.

He wrote for the Sunday World: "Plenty of Liverpool fans were moaning as Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer picked a second-string team to play Leicester on Tuesday night, but I think they were missing the point.

"Liverpool travel to Old Trafford for the re-scheduled Premier League game on Thursday night with their hopes of a top-four finish hanging by a thread after Leicester's win against United took them a giant step closer to qualifying for next season's Champions League.

"Yet Liverpool cannot point an accusing finger at Solskjaer or United and grumble that they are getting a raw deal or moan that the playing field is uneven.

"No, this is a story of a Liverpool side that has failed to perform too often this season, lost six successive games at Anfield and find themselves in a poor position with four games left to play.

"Of course, it would have been great for Liverpool if Solskjaer had played his first-choice line-up and taken points away from a Leicester side that is one of Liverpool's primary challengers for a top-four finish, the other being Chelsea, of course.

"Yet the fact that Liverpool are relying on Manchester United (of all teams!) to give them a chance of qualifying for the Champions League highlights the bigger issue here."