West Ham fullback Pablo Zabaleta is baffled by their inconsistency this season.

The Argentine revealed that qualifying for European football next season was the original aim at the start of the campaign. But he says every player has to be “on it" if they are to win regularly enough to come first among clubs outside the Big Six.

He said: “Playing Liverpool at home is the perfect opportunity for us to put it all right.

“We show against the top teams – we have got, I think, seven points from four games against Arsenal , Chelsea and Manchester United . But we have failed three or four times to get that seventh position.

“We've all been talking about it, about how good would it be to finish there, to play in the Europa League. But Watford at home was a big chance – we lost. We had a big chance against Bournemouth – another good chance – we lost. Against Wolves , another good chance – we lost.

“Sometimes, at this level, we have played really well. We win games, put in a really good performance and then, five days later, we produce a really, really poor performance.

“Ask me to explain it – I can't."