Ian Wright believes Liverpool supporters are well aware that Everton could come to Anfield and win the Merseyside Derby on Monday because everything good about the Reds has gone.
Jurgen Klopp's side had hoped to start the new year in good shape after a disappointing start to the Premier League season, but the complete opposite has unfolded. The Reds are currently winless in the Premier League since the turn of the year and added a 3-0 drubbing at Wolves on Saturday to a list of embarrassing defeats in January that included a 3-1 loss at Brentford and another 3-0 hiding at Brighton & Hove Albion.
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The alarming situation was discussed on NBC Sports by Wright, alongside Darren Lewis, Lianne Sanderson and show host Kelly Cates, who tried to unpick what has gone wrong with the Reds.
Before Wright had his say, Mirror Correspondent Lewis said: "If you look at the two teams and the way that they're playing at the moment, Liverpool are one of the most beatable teams in the league right now and I never thought I'd say that about a team with so many magnificent players. Their confidence is low, the space they give to opponents is just off the scale, they're very very passive.
"Everton are everything that Liverpool are not and the energy that they've got in the middle of the park with (Amadou) Onana and (Abdoulaye) Doucoure and the willingness to work, it's a big thing to say but I can see Everton going there and winning that game and continuing their climb up the table."
Former England and Arsenal striker Wright agreed and recognised the fact that supporters were not living in denial about the gravity of the situation. He said: "Liverpool fans know that all is not well. They know that in this moment, Everton coming off that (win against Arsenal) to play them, Liverpool fans know they could beat them. They're very honest with themselves.
"You're looking at a team - we're talking about intensity, energy, organisation - all gone. And we're not talking about a couple of games, we're talking about all season. We don't know what's going on. I was at a golf club the other day and the guys were saying he's lost the players, something's gone wrong. It's not getting in there because there's no drive to want help the manager and prove that we can get back in this, because Klopp's coming out in interviews and saying 'I don't know what's going on'. It's confusing. He's bemused. I always think he's very honest.
Journalist Lewis put it to Wright that Klopp was now putting the blame for what was happening at Liverpool at the door of his players, but that notion was rejected by Gunners' record goalscorer.
He said: "It doesn't seem like he's doing that because you can't hear him digging out individual people and say 'this' like Nathan Jones (Southampton manager), who's finding as many people as he can to throw under the bus. Whereas Jurgen seems to me like someone who is still trying to find out what's going on. And at this moment, when I look at that Wolves game, they're not working. Where has that come from?"
"The way they played when they were dominating, it was like a full court press with energy. This is why you couldn't get to people like Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Liverpool will be under immense pressure to deliver a positive result against their relegation-threatened neighbours on Monday, who already appear to have been given a new lease of life by new manager Sean Dyche. But even if the Reds do pull off the win that is expected of them, Wright's co-pundit Lewis warned that an even bigger challenge lay around the corner in the form of Real Madrid in the Champions League later this month.
Lewis added: "They're going to play Real Madrid in the Champions League. I worry for the aggregate score line. They will come with a lot of confidence, they've got Vinicius Jnr and Rodrygo, pace and quality and ingenuity in midfield and I worry for Liverpool in that game. If it isn't going to be the Merseyside Derby that does for them, or the next Premier League game, this could be a defining month, whatever's going to happen at that football club."
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