Andy Robertson believes that Liverpool have taken a "big step" towards qualifying for the Champions League next season following their 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Liverpool moved up to fourth in the Premier League after Saturday's win at Anfield, capitalising on Aston Villa's 1-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage earlier in the day.
Alexander Isak opened the scoring in the 35th minute before Robertson rounded off a rapid counter, which was instigated by Freddie Woodman's fine stop from Jean-Philippe Mateta's header, to double the Reds' lead.
Palace did respond in controversial fashion through Daniel Munoz, who lofted the ball into an empty net after Woodman was injured following a save to repel Ismaila Sarr one-on-one, but Liverpool made sure of the win late on.
A rasping finish into the top-left corner from Florian Wirtz wrapped up the triumph as Arne Slot's side won successive Premier League games at Anfield for just the third time this season, after September (opening three games) and December.
But, perhaps more importantly, Liverpool pulled eight points clear of Brighton in sixth, with the Opta supercomputer now assigning them a 97.9% chance of qualifying for UEFA's flagship competition next season.
"Our objectives this season have changed due to our form, but the Champions League is important to this football club, and we've made a big step," Robertson told Sky Sports.
"We knew if we won, we could go above Villa. We want to chase the teams above us."
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 25, 2026
Liverpool's win ended a run of four games in all competitions without a win against Palace (D2 L2), with this their first victory against them at Anfield since September 2021.
But they were indebted to several brilliant interventions from Woodman, who was standing in for the injured Giorgi Mamardashvili and Alisson Becker.
Woodman made five saves, while also helping start a swift counter that led to Robertson's strike. There was just 15 seconds between that save (39:33) and the second goal of the game (39:48), with their first strike from a fast break in the Premier League since January against Newcastle United.
"I was going to run to him but he was too far away, so I let him get the cheer off The Kop instead," Robertson said of his goal.
"We had full confidence in him. He made saves when he needed to and he was good with his feet. I don't know what happened to me, I turned into a striker."
Robertson now has more Premier League goal involvements against Palace than against any other side (nine – one goal, eight assists), while his three goals in all competitions this season is his joint-best return for Liverpool, also doing so in 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2023-24.
The Scotland international, who announced he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season earlier this month, had no qualms with Munoz's goal either, despite the discontent around the incident from the home support.
"I was closest to him and I don't think he looked up before he hit the ball. In a game like this, you just hope it doesn't punish you," Robertson said.
"When these things happen, you want the right result. It's one of these things, I don't think there's anyone to blame."