Jamie Carragher believes Arne Slot’s job will be at risk if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
Slot guided Liverpool to the title last season and then started this campaign with five consecutive victories after spending £450m in the summer, but their form nosedived with five defeats in their next six, which derailed hopes of becoming back-to-back champions.
Liverpool are now facing a fight to qualify for the Champions League after suffering their first defeat in 11 games by losing at Bournemouth on Saturday, which has left them sixth in the Premier League table, a point behind fifth-placed Chelsea and two adrift of Manchester United in fourth.
Carragher has major concerns over whether Liverpool are capable of finishing in the top five.
"If you don't qualify for the Champions League, having won the league the season before and spent as much as Liverpool, I don't think you've got a leg to stand on," he said on _Monday Night Football._
"The real worry I have for Liverpool in terms of qualifying for the Champions League is the three big things that stand out in the Premier League now are set-pieces, counter-attacking football and coming up against low blocks.
"Liverpool can't cope with any of them. What we're seeing is a team in the Premier League that's not suited to the Premier League.
"Once you start seeing what Manchester United and Chelsea have done in the last couple of weeks, you start seeing that Liverpool could actually finish outside the Champions League positions. I really fear for them.
"Once you start fearing Champions League qualification for next season, that's when I think we've got a completely different proposition when we're talking about the manager's job. That, for me, is completely different.
"If we're talking about not winning the league or challenging for the league, that is a collective responsibility, and Liverpool don't win the league every year.
"Not making the Champions League from \[being\] champions, spending £450m and having the highest wage bill in the Premier League, which is normally the biggest determining factor over where you finish in the league, I think you've got serious questions to ask."
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Highlights from the Premier League clash between Bournemouth and Liverpool
### Carra: Liverpool should sign defender this month but not panic buy
Carragher says Liverpool should bring forward any potential summer deal for a defender into this transfer window, but they mustn't panic-buy.
#### Liverpool's summer signings
* Milos Kerkez - Bournemouth, £40m
* Florian Wirtz - Bayer Leverkusen, £116m
* Jeremie Frimpong - Bayer Leverkusen, £29.5m
* Giorgi Mamardashvili - Valencia, £29m
* Hugo Ekitike - Eintracht Frankfurt, £79m
* Giovanni Leoni - Parma, £26m
* Alexander Isak - Newcastle, £125m
Virgil van Dijk is the only senior centre-back available to Slot, who was forced to play Wataru Endo alongside him after Joe Gomez went off injured in the first half at Bournemouth, while Ibrahima Konate has also not played in the last two matches due to a personal issue.
Liverpool missed out on signing Marc Guehi last summer, and he has since joined Man City, leaving the Reds short of options.
"Liverpool have always had a policy of waiting for the guy they want. Not panicking," said Carragher.
"Liverpool are short at the back. If they had to pay a bit extra for someone they wanted in the summer, I would bring that forward.
"I'm not interested in Liverpool buying a player they're not fully convinced of.
"Besides that summer, Liverpool's track record in the transfer market over the last seven or eight years has been pretty good. It's not looking as good this summer.
"I'm still backing them to make the right decisions and the right decision is to buy a defender. If Virgil van Dijk got an injury that would write off the season.
"Maybe they've got something up their sleeve, but I don't want them to panic buy."