Virgil van Dijk warned Liverpool that there will be an impact if they miss out on a Champions League spot, with the stakes very high if they fail to qualify.

Liverpool currently sit fifth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth, but they missed the chances to move above Aston Villa on Tuesday following a shock 2-1 defeat to Wolves.

Mohamed Salah cancelled out Rodrigo Gomes' opener, but Liverpool were then stunned in the 94th minute as Andre’s goal deflected past Alisson to deliver a hammer blow to last season's champions.

Liverpool are currently given a 36.1% chance of finishing in the top four, though with fifth place likely to be enough to secure Champions League football, that figure does improve to 66.1%.

With Villa and Manchester United, also on 51 points in third, playing on Wednesday, the gap between Liverpool and the top four could open further, and Van Dijk highlighted just how important it is to make sure they are in UEFA's premier competition.

"100% [it will have impact]," Van Dijk conceded when asked whether missing out on the competition would affect Liverpool's transfer plans.

"The stakes are very high. Listen, if you play for Liverpool, it's always been like that. It's down to us, together with our fans, to get the results we need to get into the Champions League.

"We're also still playing in the Champions League and the FA Cup this season and trying to make it successful. Now the decisive period starts. We have to just go for it. We have to take this on the chin. No matter how hard it is to take.

"Either we get it, and we deserve it, or we don't get it, and we don't deserve it. We have to go through our difficulties to get consistency. It's part of the process of this team. Everyone wants to win."

Liverpool have lost five Premier League games thanks to 90th-minute goals this season, the most ever by a team in a single campaign.

Their defeat to Wolves ended a three-match winning streak and was their ninth defeat of the campaign overall.

"It was disappointing and poor," Van Dijk added of the loss.

"The standards we've set over the past few weeks, especially in terms of defending as a unit. It wasn't good enough, especially in the last 10 minutes.

"Before that, we were solid. But at the end, we were too eager to score the winner, and then it opened up massively."