Liverpool could “take a hit” on certain sponsorship deals if they fail to qualify for the Champions League this season, according to finance expert Kieran Maguire.
After winning the Premier League title last season, the Reds are currently sixth in the Premier League table and risk missing out on a top-four finish.
Liverpool are currently three points behind fourth-placed West Ham and four points adrift of third-placed Leicester City with seven matches remaining.
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Jurgen Klopp’s side are in good form in the league having won their last three matches but it remains to be seen how they will bounce back from their Champions League exit to Real Madrid in midweek.
Lose to Leeds United on Monday and the Reds could leave themselves with too much to do to qualify for the Champions League.
And Maguire thinks that could have an impact on sponsorship money from the likes of Nike and Standard Chartered, although he doesn’t think the “penalty would be significant”.
Maguire told Football Insider: “We’ve not seen anything explicit from the club.
“Liverpool still haven’t published their accounts from last season so trying to determine the nature of the relationship with their main sponsors is actually really difficult.
“We are aware that Adidas had a 25 per cent penalty with Man United if they failed to qualify for the Champions League for two years in a row.
“Given that Liverpool’s relationship with Nike involves a low fixed base and high commission, I don’t think the penalty would be significant. But they could still take a hit.
“With Standard Chartered, there could be a small one too. Having said that, I don’t think they’ll be hit too badly.”
Speaking about his side’s top-four hopes, Liverpool boss Klopp said: “I would say I am naturally confident, but that doesn’t mean we will end up there.
“We just can read the table, we know the points, we know the situation and stuff like this.
“We know who we play and we don’t have to talk too much about it. I said now what we think about it and, yes, we want and we have to – and if we want that we should play really good football.
“I think we are not in a bad moment at the moment: we played pretty well even when it was a late winner against Aston Villa. We played a good game against them, we played really good against Arsenal.
“So we just have to keep going. We really have to keep going, we have to keep fighting.
“We want to be in the Champions League next year but in the moment we still have to pick up more points than a lot of other teams.”
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