LIVERPOOL are at risk of becoming the worst defending Premier League champions EVER.
That is according to Alan Shearer, whose Blackburn side also fell way short after winning the title in 1994-95.
Arne Slot‘s men are currently back outside the Champions League places in fifth, although they are only two points off Manchester United in fourth.
But Shearer, 55, thinks that the huge summer spend at Anfield should change the perspective around their title defence.
Speaking to Betfair, Shearer explained: “I’m in a good position to talk about being the worst defending champions in the Premier League because we did that at Blackburn when we won the league.
“I think we finished sixth as well the season after we won it.
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“I guess on the other side of it, we didn’t sign any players, whereas they’ve spent roughly £400million on players.
“So, it possibly would be the case that they could become the worst defending champions the league have seen, yeah.
“When you’re spending that much money as a football club, it would be a spectacular fall and fail to go from where they were last season to not qualifying for the Champions League this season.
“It looks as if top five will be enough so for Liverpool to finish outside of the top five would not be a good look for Slot or Liverpool.”
Shearer and Blackburn went from recording 89 points – albeit from 42 matches – to just 61 a season later (38 games).
The league’s all-time top scorer still put up massive numbers, scoring 31 from 35 appearances having hit 34 in 42 the year before.
But Liverpool smashed the British transfer record, one previously held by Shearer, for Alexander Isak and splashed out over £100million on Florian Wirtz as well in order to strengthen their squad.
Slot has come under pressure for the meek defence of Liverpool’s second Prem crown, which came as a surprise in his debut season at Anfield.
The Dutchman has overseen 11 losses in all competitions already, including seven in the league.
Although things have steadied slightly from a run of nine defeats in 12 over October and November, Liverpool are still searching for consistency and better form.
For Shearer, the next few months could define whether Slot is still in the dugout next season.
He said: “But I guess when you look at Liverpool and the energy that they showed last year, particularly in those midfield positions, there’s so much missing.
“And defensively they’ve been a shadow of themselves from what we saw last season, despite the huge amounts that they’ve spent on players.
“That result at Bournemouth sort of summed them up last week, really for all three goals, not just the one they conceded in the last minute, which was the winner to Bournemouth.
“So certainly, plenty to work on, but I would say there’s lots of clubs like that.
“I would think Slot has to finish in a Champions League spot to keep his job ahead of next season.
“I mean, what trophies have they got left to play for? They’ve got two left.
“The FA Cup and Champions League I guess because they’re not winning the Premier League.
“But it’s not beyond them to win the Champions League with the form they’re in, in that competition and the history they have.
“I wouldn’t say that he has to win a trophy, but I think he has to qualify for the Champions League again to keep his job ahead of next season.
“That would be the big thing.”
Other noteworthy title defence flops are Chelsea in 2015-16 when they finished 10th and sacked Jose Mourinho by December after being in a relegation battle.
Leicester, one year later, dismissed Claudio Ranieri after their shock 5000-1 victory and went on to come 12th.
Chelsea also didn’t fair much better 12 months on as they slumped to fifth with Antonio Conte falling short of his own season one heroics at Stamford Bridge.
United were seventh after Sir Alex Ferguson left as a champion in 2013. David Moyes got the boot before the end of the 2013-14 campaign.
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