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Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool will be Premier League contenders next season after ending an underwhelming campaign with a thrilling 4-4 draw at relegated Southampton. The fifth-placed Reds arrived at St Mary’s knowing they had already missed out on a top-four finish for the first time since 2015-16. Early goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino appeared to have put the in-form visitors on course for a straightforward success on the south coast. But they were forced to come from 4-2 behind to stretch their unbeaten run to 11 games following Kamaldeen Sulemana’s brace and strikes from James Ward-Prowse and Adam Armstrong. Liverpool boss Klopp, whose side avoided defeat thanks to a goal from substitute Cody Gakpo and Jota’s second, was happy to see the back of 2022-23 and confident next term would be far more memorable. “There were moments during the season when you thought ‘the season will be four years long’,” he said. “Thank God for the last 11 games, that helped massively, gave us a real boost, gave us a perspective, gave us a basis for what we have to do. “That it didn’t turn into the best ever season, we see that, we know that, we are very disappointed about the fact that we didn’t make it to the top four. “But there are moments when you have to admit there were four teams that were better than us – that’s the truth. “We played a bad season, we come fifth, that is a message as well. “Imagine we were our normal self, which we absolutely will be again next season and will be a contender again. That’s how is it. The last 11 games helped us to realise that again.” Gakpo and Jota struck in the 72nd and 73rd minutes respectively to prevent Liverpool slipping to a shock defeat, while Mohamed Salah hit a post late on. Klopp felt his players contributed to their own undoing during a “silly” period of a chaotic contest. “We are 2-0 up and you know these Southampton players want to pay back to these people (home fans) and we let them, just opened the door for a really talented offensive team, with the speed they have,” he said. Top start, outstanding finish, in between just silly Jurgen Klopp “I can make a list of things we weren’t and that led to the counter attacks they had. “Then it’s 2-2 and 4-2 and then we started doing the right things again. I think we could have scored a fifth and a sixth. “Top start, outstanding finish, in between just silly.”

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A topsy-turvy final day of the Premier League season saw 33 goals scored across the ten simultaneous matches, with Everton ultimately surviving the three-way relegation battle and Aston Villa beating Tottenham to a place in Europe next season. Here are the five key talking points as the 2022/23 season came to a close: Leicester changes leave Dean Smith wondering what might have been Dean Smith made a bold call in Leicester's penultimate game to drop James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, which paid off after the woodwork smiled on the Foxes. Both players returned as Smith rolled the dice, admittedly with little choice. But the response from Barnes was magnificent. Full of running, sharp turns and intelligence on the ball, the Leicester star's neat finish after an explosive run underlined his class. Barnes was hardly at risk of playing in the Championship next season, given the inevitable interest this summer, but his reputation was enhanced here with his attitude and composure under the utmost pressure of a final day relegation decider. It was not to be enough and now a move and opportunity, perhaps at a club poised to play in Europe, awaits Barnes following Leicester's heartache. Doucoure in from the cold to play the part of saviour Everton needed a hero, enter: Abdoulaye Doucoure. Frozen out by Frank Lampard and destined to depart, the Toffees faithful will be thrilled circumstances enabled an extended stay. A double at Brighton in the 5-1 win inspired one of the shocks of the season and a swing of a leg here shattered the tension engulfing Goodison Park after Harvey Barnes' goal for Leicester had them destined for the Championship. Doucoure, now 30 years of age, and just one year remaining on his deal, might not have much of a future on Merseyside, but his name will be remembered fondly after inspiring the great escape. Arsenal take the handbrake off...after the pressure departs The Gunners certainly took massive strides forward this season and wrapped up their campaign 5-0 against Wolves - though it didn’t matter with the title race long since done. Mikel Arteta’s side have had a habit over the last few years of falling short when the pressure is really cranked up and that’s exactly what they did again this term. The difference being, of course, that this time it was in a top-two battle, rather than trying to finish off the job merely qualifying for European places. With no pressure on them their fantastic football has them a class apart; improving mental resilience has to be job No.1 for next term. Spurs end on bittersweet note with future no more clear than Leeds’ Harry Kane scores twice, Spurs win 4-1, Lucas Moura nets an emotional goodbye goal. It sounds like a fine day for Tottenham, but when the dust settles fans will quickly realise they’re at a massive crossroads. The north London club have no manager, no director of football and no European action for next term - and rumours persist that Kane could depart too. Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce didn’t really come close to keeping Leeds up despite taking the fight to the final day. His side fell apart two minutes into each half after defensive errors and that has been the story of the last two seasons for them, this one proving too costly to recover from. How they rebuild and who they place in charge will determine whether the talent they unquestionably have in their ranks is enough to bounce straight back, or whether Leeds face another long fight to regain a place among the nation’s elite. Villa go from relegation fears to European hopefuls Unai Emery has done it. Mocked for so long in English football, yet the Spaniard has transformed Villa and provided fresh hope for perhaps a sleeping giant of English football. Back in Europe, in the Europa Conference League, having held their nerve here against Brighton to resist Tottenham, who claimed all three points against relegated Leeds, there is fresh vigour to this team. The noise and buzz around Villa Park illustrates the delight at the spectacular job Emery has executed. Jacob Ramsey is one of Europe's most exciting talents and his surge from deep led to Ollie Watkins' 15th goal of the season - enough to resist late Brighton resistance. Now Villans will dare to dream, with Emery, they have a coach with the experience and wisdom to spark a famous European adventure next season. Exactly why Liverpool fell short and Southampton fell down The game of the day in terms of excitement and goalmouth action was also an absolute irrelevance, with neither Southampton nor Liverpool able to go up or down than 20th and fifth respectively. It made for an entertaining encounter and an eventual 4-4 draw - but also showed where both teams have been lacking this season. The Reds led by two early on including a farewell Roberto Firmino goal, but defensive lapses, a lack of midfield power and some poor game management saw Jurgen Klopp’s side concede four without reply to the league’s worst side, before eventually clawing back a draw. That’s a big lesson to be learned from why they are outside the Champions League next term, having had a soft centre all year this time around. Saints, meanwhile, certainly fared better in attack on the day than they generally have this season, but shipping four on home turf to still not win a game points to where their own deficiencies have been. They have to rebuild for life in the second tier, after ending this term on a 13-match winless streak. Read More From Conte and Tuchel’s clash to Kane’s heroics – Premier League best moments Everton fans storm pitch before chants to ‘sack the board’ Easy in the end for Manchester City – same again next season? Leicester relegated despite ending season with victory over West Ham Leicester and Leeds down as Abdoulaye Doucoure stunner is enough to save Everton Granit Xhaka hits brace as Arsenal end season with big win over Wolves

Spain’s right-wing parties were poised to win two key regions in municipal elections on Sunday, potentially complicating Socialist

Isaac Paredes homered and drove in four runs as the MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays took two of three from the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers with an 11-10 victory

Iranian state media says Oman’s ruler has arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran for talks with President Ebrahim Raisi and other top officials

The Miami Heat were 0.1 seconds away from a trip to the NBA Finals