Former Premier League striker Dean Windass has told Football FanCast that Jurgen Klopp will certainly be at Liverpool next season, but insists they must finish in the top four this season.

The Reds have endured a torrid defence of their Premier League title and are currently sixth in the table ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Chelsea.

Having lost just three games in the entirety of last season, they have already been defeated seven times this term, and they are 22 points behind runaway leaders Manchester City.

Not only that but Klopp’s men also sit two points behind fourth-placed West Ham United.

Windass does not believe Klopp will walk away at the end of the season, but he has emphasised the importance of the Reds finishing in the top four.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, he said: “The answer to your question is he’ll still be there next year, he’ll be there, he’s signed a new contract.

“Listen, the big aim for Liverpool now this season is to get into the Champions League.

“And then obviously next season is to try to emulate what they did last season. It’s the same with Chelsea, the same with Man City, the same with Liverpool, the same with Arsenal, you know, never got there in the last few years. So [Mikel] Arteta has been under pressure, everybody's under pressure at the top and the bottom. So it's a situation where he'll stay. They’ll get in the Champions League, for me.”

Windass has stopped short of insisting that the Reds have excuses for their poor form, however.

There have been a number of injury issues for Klopp to contend with, mainly the fitness of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, but Windass does not believe that they can fall back on the defence that this has been a season unlike any other.

He added: “To be a top team and a top manager and a top player you've got to be consistent. And I'm not blaming COVID, I'm not blaming the supporters, I'm not blaming that they didn’t really have a pre-season as we went into lockdown, you can’t make all of those excuses because everybody's in the same boat.

“Man City are in the same boat and they've done the same lockdown as everybody else. It's just, can you sustain that self-belief and the standards that Liverpool have set? They haven’t.”