Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen believe Liverpool's season will be defined by their next three Premier League games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday night after suffering a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the last 16. The Reds lost the first leg 5-2 at Anfield before Karim Benzema's second-half goal settled the return game.
Wednesday night's result means the Community Shield holders will finish the campaign without a major honour. Liverpool are also in serious danger of missing out on Champions League football next term due to their position in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp's side are sixth in the table - six points behind Tottenham in fourth with a game in hand. Ferdinand and Owen believe Liverpool's top-four hopes will be ended if they pick up poor results against City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
"It is and as Crouchy [Peter Crouch] said, it’s worrying," said Owen. "The next few games could make or break Liverpool’s end to the season. The next three games are very tough.
"Playing Tottenham [later in the season] is a good thing, obviously they’re one of the teams they need to catch. But they need to get through the next two or three games unscathed, otherwise it could be an uphill climb."
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Liverpool will find it difficult beating their next three opponents. City and Arsenal are the two teams battling for the title this year, while Chelsea have won three consecutive games in all competitions under Graham Potter.
In comparison, Liverpool have lost back-to-back outings against Bournemouth and Real. Speaking to BT Sport, Ferdinand added, "They’re going to limp into those three games against big, big teams who are all fighting for things as well.
"It’ll be very, very difficult, them three games will define what’s gonna happen for the rest of the season. If they don’t get anything positive out of those three games it’s going to be a dour season for Liverpool."
The Reds do not play again until April 1 after their upcoming game against Fulham was postponed due to the Londoners' involvement in the FA Cup. Liverpool's run-in is not too daunting, but defeats to City, Chelsea and Arsenal could leave them well off the pace.
Liverpool needed to score an early goal on Wednesday night to have any chance of progressing, but Carlo Ancelotti's side kept them at bay. Klopp's post-match interview suggests confidence is low on Merseyside. He told BT Sport, "If we draw at home and play like we did tonight, we probably go out as well.
"We cannot come here and hope that we get something. We prepared for a special performance tonight but it didn't happen. Nobody thinks, 'How could Liverpool go out' - and that's probably the best sign that the right team went through and that's how it is in the knockout stage."
