The Premier League champions have slipped to sixth in the table after their 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend and former Reds defender Carragher fears for the manager if the team are unable to secure a place in Europe's top competition by finishing in the top five.

The pundit said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football: "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.

"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."

Carragher believes that a failure to secure a Champions League place following last season's title win and a £450 million summer transfer splurge would leave Slot with "serious questions" to answer.

He said: "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."