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Paul Merson has told Liverpool to forget about next week's Champions League meeting with Real Madrid as the club aims to save its Premier League season this weekend.
The Reds welcome Madrid to Anfield in a few days' time, but Arne Slot's men face a tricky assignment against an in-form Aston Villa side before then. Villa has collected 13 points from its last five league games, with wins against Tottenham and Manchester City coming in the Villans' last two outings.
Villa has not won at Anfield since 2014, but Merson thinks that could change on Saturday. He told Sportskeeda: "Liverpool should forget about the Real Madrid game next week.
"If they lose that one, they can still qualify for the Champions League knockout stages. But defeat to Aston Villa could be the end of their hopes of retaining the Premier League title.
"That would put them 10 points behind Arsenal with a game against Manchester City coming up. Not the best situation, and I worry for Liverpool because I don't see them beating Villa this weekend."
Merson believes that Villa's players will go into the game feeling as though they have nothing to lose, as all the focus will be on Liverpool amid the team's atrocious run of form.
"If you are looking at the form table, Aston Villa are at the top and Liverpool are languishing towards the bottom," Merson said.
"Unai Emery's men will go to Anfield on Saturday with a lot of confidence. Barring the shock loss they suffered to Go Ahead Eagles, Villa have been faultless in recent weeks.
"Part of me goes, 'at some point Liverpool will start winning games again'. But when you lose six out of seven games, something is wrong. And it's not just the games you are losing, it's also the confidence.
"Villa have nothing to lose here. Even if they lose this game, it's not a big problem. That freedom will give them an advantage."
Giving his verdict on Liverpool's team selection, he added: "A big question is whether or not Mohamed Salah starts this game for Liverpool. I think he does.
"If you want chances falling to players in games like these, Salah is still certainly one of them. I know he hasn't been scoring goals, but they can't leave him out of this game."
Merson ended up predicting that the game will end in a 1-1 draw.
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