Tony Cascarino believes the absence of Georginio Wijnaldum is costing Liverpool this season as neither Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Thiago Alcantara are good enough to replace him.
The Dutchman ended his five-year stay at Anfield in the summer after the expiration of his contract, which he signed in 2016 after arriving from Newcastle.
During his time on Merseyside, the 30-year-old made 237 appearances for the Reds and won four major trophies along the way.
Talk about a possible contract extension was on the cards for several months, but in the end Wijnaldum decided to call time on his spell at Liverpool and join Paris Saint-Germain.
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago Alcantara have both regularly featured in place of Wijnaldum this season as have Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Naby Keita.
But Cascarino believes neither Oxlade-Chamberlain or Thiago boast the same kind of skillset as Wijnaldum.
"The key reason why they are not as strong as they have been is that the midfield 'dogs of war' are more like dogs of straw at the moment," he told The Times.
"The three playing in there used to be so relentless and aggressive that they made it really hard for opponents to get at Liverpool. Now the centre halves are exposed.
"The big miss is Gini Wijnaldum, who left a big hole when he went to Paris Saint-Germain."
Before Cascarino went on to give his reasons behind why he believes Jurgen Klopp’s side will fall short in this season's Premier League title race.
He said: "Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago Alcantara do not do the same job, especially against big physical opposition such as Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek in the West Ham midfield. Fabinho can do the job but he didn’t look fit to me.
"It’s the reason why I think Liverpool will struggle to win the league, although what we’ve seen in the last week — Manchester City losing to Crystal Palace, Burnley holding Chelsea, and now West Ham beating Liverpool — tells me the winning points total will be less than 90 this season, unlike some recent seasons."
