Loss-making Liverpool chase Champions League boost

Liverpool lost almost 50 million pounds ($83.6 million) in 2012-13, accounts published on Tuesday showed, but are looking to return to the Champions League next season to boost their financial performance.

The deficit was similar to losses reported for last season by Chelsea and Manchester City, two of the big spenders who have usurped Liverpool at the top of English football in recent seasons.

Owned by U.S. businessman John W. Henry, Liverpool are in second place in the Premier League, four points behind Chelsea with 10 matches left to play. They last won the league title in 1990 before the Premier League was established two years later.

They look well set to at least finish in the top four and claim a place in the lucrative Champions League in which they last played in 2009-10.

"To get back into the top four has been the priority absolutely," managing director Ian Ayre told the Liverpool Echo which published details of the club accounts.

"The players and everyone else will be focused on winning every game and if that brings the top prize then that will be unbelievable," he added.

"And if it brings Champions League football, then it will still be a fantastic season for us."

Hampered by their absence from the Champions League, Liverpool reported revenue of 206 million pounds in 2012-13. That left them trailing behind rivals Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in terms of income.