Relegated Southampton host Liverpool on the final day of league fixtures looking to end a miserable season.
The visitors are reeling but for different reasons.
Liverpool suffered a drastic dip in form this season after coming close to an unprecedented quadruple last year. And now they’ve missed out on the Champions League.
A late-season rally came too little, too late as a 10-game unbeaten run has only guaranteed fifth place and Europa League football next season.
Should Mohamed Salah score his eighth goal against Southampton here, it would be the fifth time in his six seasons at Liverpool he has netted 20+ PL goals.
“I’m totally devastated,” Salah, who has scored 30 goals in all competitions this season, posted on his social media channels.
“There’s absolutely no excuse for this. We had everything we needed to make it to next year’s Champions League and we failed.
“We are Liverpool and qualifying to the competition is the bare minimum. I am sorry but it’s too soon for an uplifting or optimistic post. We let you and ourselves down.”
Next season will be the first time Liverpool have not been in the Champions League since Salah joined the club in 2017.
After an 11-year stint in the Premier League, Southampton will officially bow out of England’s top flight in a graceless fashion by finishing bottom of the pile this season.
They haven’t put up much of a fight on their way down as they head into their farewell match on a 12-game winless run (D3, L9), with that being their third-longest stretch without victory in their entire league history.
Only once in the last 20 league seasons has the team finishing last won their final game of the season.