Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes that the Premier League champions could soon be out of the title race if their alarming slump continues.
Jurgen Klopp witnessed his side lose a top-flight fixture at Anfield for the first time since April 2017 on Thursday evening, as Ashley Barnes's penalty saw Burnley march to a 1-0 win on Merseyside.
Six points now separate Liverpool from current leaders Manchester United, and Carragher thinks that Liverpool fans will soon be more concerned about a Champions League berth rather than a second successive crown.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Carragher said: "We were talking about a blip for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp has come out and defended his players as you would expect because these players have done so much for Liverpool.
"But at this moment it looks like the title is slipping away. Six points can still be recovered but the form Liverpool are in and the fixtures they have in the coming months, I think Liverpool fans will be worrying a little more about their top-four position than the title.
"They have just been so poor. You cannot quite believe what has happened to Liverpool in the last few weeks. You go from that 7-0 win at Palace to so many players out of form at the same time.
"It is his job to fix it – whether that is formations, personnel, however they go about it – but there are many teams challenging for that top four it will be a worry for Liverpool until they get out of this little run that they are on.
"I can't remember a time when this team has had so many players out of form at the same time. For whatever reason this season, it's not just dropped off, it's massively dropped off in the last four or five games. And it's a worry, not just in terms of the title, but in terms of the top four positions.
"There's so many teams who will fancy their chances this season of that goal, and Liverpool have got a really tough run of six or seven games to come. And if they don't go well, they'll be well out of the title race by then, the end of February."
As well as stretching their winless Premier League run to five matches, Thursday's 1-0 defeat saw Liverpool fail to score in four league matches for the first time since May 2000.
Ben Knapton
