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• Feyenoord coach Arne Slot in contention to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool

  Feyenoord coach Arne Slot has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed Jurgen Klopp when he leaves as Liverpool manager at the end of the campaign.

  Slot guided the Dutch club to their first title in six years last season and currently has them in second place in the Eredivisie table having won the Dutch Cup at the weekend.

  The PA news agency understands Liverpool consider Slot to fit all the criteria set out in their recruitment process, although they are still looking at other contenders.

• Jurgen Klopp insists winning is all that matters ahead of final Merseyside derby

  Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp accepts results are all that matter at this stage of the season as he looks to end his final Merseyside derby with a rare victory at Goodison Park.

  Klopp has lost just one of 18 matches against the Toffees – the behind-closed-doors game at Anfield in February 2021 – but across Stanley Park his record is just two wins and five draws.

  He was surprised by some of the reaction to Sunday’s 3-1 win at Fulham, which attracted criticism for not being the most fluent, but insists winning was the main objective, with no margin for error in a title race in which they are currently third favourites.

  “I know this is the last part of the season: it is not about playing the freshest football of the whole year – that would be strange if that works out with the schedule all the teams have,” said Klopp, who will be without Diogo Jota for at least a fortnight after the forward injured himself scoring at Craven Cottage.

  “But you have to win games and I think we know how to do that and we have to make sure everybody understands the way we want to try (on Wednesday).

  “I wouldn’t say it was straightforward but until two weeks ago everything was probably better than anyone would have expected.

  “Then you have this week (losing to Atalanta and Crystal Palace) when the performances were not as bad as the results felt afterwards.

  “And then it is like, ‘Why don’t you score enough? If you look at our numbers, yes, there are two teams who have scored more than us (Arsenal and Manchester City) but it is not like there are two teams who scored 50 goals more than us.

  “It is always about how you can get the right feeling again for the situation and the next game and we usually do that. I am really happy now with the response.”

  Liverpool’s disappointing run of games at Goodison stretches beyond Klopp’s arrival in 2015, with nine of the last 11 encounters ending in draws.

  Klopp’s five draws are more than at any other away ground, but that has to change on Wednesday night if they are to maintain the pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City.

  “I don’t know exactly when my first derby was, 2016, but when I (first) came here it would not be honest if I said that is my game of the year. It wasn’t, I knew how important it was for the people, but didn’t feel it then.

  “Now I know it and feel it. My understanding developed over the years. They are always difficult games, especially there, but it is not too important, what we had in the past.”

  Losing Jota will not help in unlocking what is likely to be a determined Everton defence, especially as Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz have all looked below their best in recent weeks.

  “Unfortunately Diogo scored the goal, felt a little bit and now we found out it’s a little bit more so he will be out for two weeks,” said Klopp, who revealed Jota had complained of a hip problem in the last couple of weeks.

  “It’s a small one but we are late in the season, so obviously now it’s not a great moment for each injury pretty much.

  “When I say two weeks, actually really it’s pretty much nothing but enough to not be available.”

• Championship run-in: Where the top four stand in race for automatic promotion

  The battle for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship continues to intensify as Leeds moved into the top-two with a nail-biting win over Middlesbrough on Monday.

  Leaders Leicester sit just two points ahead of third-placed Ipswich and the Foxes take on Southampton tonight, where defeat for fourth-placed Saints would all but end their automatic hopes.

  Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the remaining weeks of an increasingly tense Championship run-in.

  Leicester (1st, played 43, 91 points, +42 goal difference)

  Run-in: Southampton (h), Preston (a), Blackburn (h).

  Once seemingly certain to return to the top flight after a single season in the second tier – Enzo Maresca’s side were 17 points clear of Leeds – Leicester have suffered a crisis of confidence just at the wrong time.

  A 2-1 home defeat by Middlesbrough on February 17 launched a run of 10 league games culminating in a 1-0 reverse at Plymouth which saw them lose six times and collect just 10 of the 30 points available.

  However, a 2-1 victory over play-off chasing West Brom took them back to the top of the table and with two of their last three fixtures at the King Power Stadium, they will hope they can make home advantage count.

  Leeds (2nd, played 44, 90 points, +43 goal difference)

  Run-in: QPR (a), Southampton (h).

  As with Leicester, Leeds have suffered a wobble at the most inopportune moment.

  A 2-1 defeat at Coventry on April 6 was their first in the league since the turn of the year and, having seen Sunderland leave Elland Road with a point three days later, Daniel Farke’s men lost on home soil for the first time this season last Saturday when Sammie Szmodics fired Blackburn to victory in West Yorkshire.

  But they came out on the right end of a seven-goal thriller in Teesside on Monday, claiming a 4-3 win over Middlesbrough that Farke will hope can be a springboard for their final two fixtures.

  Ipswich (3rd, played 43, 89 points, +32 goal difference)

  Run-in: Hull (a), Coventry (a), Huddersfield (h).

  Ipswich’s unlikely tilt at back-to-back promotions has hit the buffers in recent weeks after a remarkable run of nine wins in 10 Championship outings was brought to an end by derby rivals Norwich.

  A 1-0 defeat at Carrow Road on April 6 has been followed by home draws with Watford and Middlesbrough and Town must rediscover the form which earned manager Kieran McKenna the accolade of Championship Manager of the Season on Sunday evening if they are to reach the top flight.

  However, all three of their remaining opponents still have something to play for, with Hull and Coventry on the fringes of the play-off race and Huddersfield battling desperately to avoid the drop.

  Southampton (played 43, 84 points, +29 goal difference)

  Run-in: Leicester (a), Stoke (h), Leeds (a).

  Southampton’s bad patch arrived in February, when they lost to Bristol City, Hull and Millwall either side of a 2-0 success at West Brom in the space of 12 days.

  A 3-0 win over Preston a week ago was their third in succession but despite taking the lead at Cardiff on Saturday, the Bluebirds claimed a last-gasp victory and Saints are now six points adrift of the top two.

  How they fare against Leicester may go a long way to deciding their fate, while a visit to Leeds on the final day of the season promises to be a must-watch.