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Liverpool to be seeded in Champions League final qualifying round draw

Liverpool will be one of the five seeded clubs in the Champions League playoff round after they sealed their place with a 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp's men knew a victory would secure a return to the competition but, with Manchester City also winning their match at Watford, Liverpool had to settle for a place in the final qualifying round after finishing fourth.

With Borussia Dortmund securing a direct route to the group stage on Saturday, and Zenit St Petersburg missing out on the competition completely by finishing third in Russia, Liverpool are guaranteed to be seeded.

Viktoria Plzen are the top-ranked unseeded club, but will be seeded if they qualify and either Dynamo Kiev or Ajax fail to make it. CSKA could be seeded too if both fail to qualify and they make the group stage.

Facing Sporting, or a long trip to take on CSKA Moscow, could be the most difficult playoff round draw, though Mario Balotelli's Nice and Hoffenheim may also be ones to avoid.

Ten teams enter in the third qualifying round, with the five winners going through to join the five teams who enter at the playoff round stage.

Champions League playoff seeded clubs: Sevilla, Napoli or Roma, Dynamo Kiev*, Ajax*, Liverpool

Unseeded clubs (five from 10): Viktoria Plzen*, CSKA Moscow*, Club Brugge*, Sporting Lisbon, Steaua Bucharest*, Young Boys*, Hoffenheim, Nice*, Istanbul Basaksehir or Besiktas*, runners-up in Greece*

* Starts in third qualifying round