If you will spare him the cliché, former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has described his old club's Barclays Premier League run-in as '12 cup finals' – but with none more important than Swansea City this Sunday.

Back-to-back victories over Arsenal and Fulham last week strengthened the Reds' position in the top four as their quest for a Champions League qualification spot approaches its final stages.

With a swashbuckling, attacking style, Brendan Rodgers' team have claimed three points in 16 of their 26 fixtures and fired 66 goals, with Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez hitting more than half of those between them.

Aldridge, a championship winner with the club in 1987-88, believes Liverpool must retain their maximum concentration in their dozen remaining games, and not least for the visit of the Swans at the weekend.

He told Liverpoolfc.com: "We can't take our eyes off the ball now. You've got to concentrate on every single game; you've got 12 cup finals.

"Excuse the pun, but that's what it is now, to get in the Champions League and try to get above Arsenal. Why not? I think they are catchable.

"I don't know about Chelsea and Manchester City, they have got to come here. There is a lot of scope in this team, we can score a lot of goals between now and the end of the season. If we can tighten up at the back, away from home in particular, you don't know where we can end up.

"We can get third place. To get top is asking a lot. First and foremost, you've got to beat City here and hope they slip up somewhere down the line, and beat Chelsea here. Once it's there, you've got to go for it; we have to go for it and see where it leads us.

"We all know the top four is huge for us, then build on what Brendan has achieved at the moment. We are playing some fantastic football and going forward it's a joy to watch.

"We've got to do what we're good at - feed the lads up front. The four lads up front are doing tremendously at the moment; they will make things happen for us.

"We have got to try to get clean sheets between now and the end of the season, to get us the maximum points. Swansea is a game that you would hope we can get the three points, of course."

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The Reds were eliminated from the FA Cup at the fifth-round stage last Sunday, with a 2-1 defeat by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium ending the side's hopes of lifting that particular trophy for an eighth time.

In contrast, Liverpool's rivals at the summit of the division are each in European competition - a scenario many suggest could be crucial in achieving their objectives. Aldridge is in agreement.

The 55-year-old explained: "There are no distractions, unlike City - they are going for a treble - and Chelsea, they are in the Champions League. Arsenal are in three competitions. We've got 12 massive games.

"You don't look any further than Swansea; that's a cliché, but it's true. Make sure we go about it as we did against Everton and Arsenal respectively. Get the three points in the bag when other teams are playing each other.

"Then you look towards the next game and so forth. I do think it's advantageous to us to just be the only ones who are looking at the league programme. Tottenham have got the Europa League as well as a distraction."

Both Sturridge and Suarez have been in prolific form as a tandem in 2013-14, with the former narrowly missing out on setting a club record by scoring in a ninth consecutive appearance, against Arsenal.

Aldridge envisaged impressive performances from the England international when he sealed a switch from Chelsea, but the No.15 has surpassed the pundit's expectations so far this season.

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"He has been brilliant," 'Aldo' commented. "It's hard, coming to a club like Liverpool with the expectation of scoring goals. He had a little bit at Chelsea, but he has taken like a duck to water.

"I always knew he had the capabilities to score a lot of goals; Brendan has seen him as a kid many times and worked with him on the training ground.

"I have to say, he has exceeded my expectations, to score so many goals in so few games. It bodes well. It is a tremendous effort. You have got to try to stay at the club for as long as you can.

"I was only at the club for 104 games and scored 63 goals, so people always remember goalscorers. There is no reason why he won't be at the club for a long time and hopefully break records."