The Merseyside-based club won the Premier League title in astounding fashion last season but have failed to maintain their standards this term as they now sit seventh in the table.

 

Liverpool have also bowed out of both domestic cup competitions and face the risk of being knocked out of the Champions League having suffered a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.

 

 

Despite their worrying fall, Liverpool legend Aldridge is confident that the Reds will improve significantly when the injured Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk return to the team.

 

Aldridge expressed his concerns about Liverpool’s ability to finish in the top four this season, but insisted that the club will have to wait until the first month of the next season to fully assess the damage this season has done to them.

 

 

We might need to wait until the first month of next season to get a full assessment of the damage that has been done to this Liverpool team and I remain hopeful that the presence of captain Jordan Henderson and a fit-again Virgil van Dijk will make a massive difference“, Aldridge wrote in his Sunday World column.

 

Yet for now, it is a case of Liverpool trying to scramble a top-four finish in the Premier League and hoping against hope that they can find a way to grind to a 2-0 win that will be enough to turn around the quarter-final against Real Madrid.

 

 

When you look at the performance against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, both of those ambitions look pretty forlorn right now.

 

But Liverpool have to believe that what appears to be impossible can still happen.

 

Despite Liverpool facing the risk of missing out on a top four finish and bowing out of the Champions League, Aldridge will be hopeful that they can quickly turn things around and enjoy a strong end to the campaign.