Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says his team is relishing the challenges ahead.
After struggling in the first part of the season, the Reds showed signs of improvement in the game against Arsenal two weeks ago and went on to produce back-to-back positive results against Burnley and Swansea City.
"As a year, it's been another one of progress," Rodgers said during his press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
"The beginning of this season wasn't quite what we wanted it to be, but over the course of 2014 we've definitely made significant strides forward.
"We've been consistent in that we want to be a team based on high performance and in the year, only two teams picked up more points than us.
"So despite the start to this season, we've made good progress overall. I've been pleased, but we've still got a lot of work to do."
The Reds will qualify for next season's Champions League if they win the Europa League this season but the Northern Irishman wants to make sure of a top four finish in the Premier League.
"We have an exciting period now going into the second half of the season. There are a lot of good teams trying to get into the top four.
"We're building confidence and momentum and really looking forward to the rest of the campaign.
"Every game is different and Leicester will want to make it challenging for us. But we will be ready and we want to continue this little spell we're on and finish this tough Christmas schedule with maximum points."
