Liverpool are on a difficult run of form at present, particularly in the Premier League. At the weekend, the Reds squandered a two-goal lead away to Leeds United, allowing the newly-promoted side back into the game.
It ended 3-3 at Elland Road as Liverpool conceded a stoppage time Ao Tanaka equaliser which prompted Mohamed Salah to speak out against manager Arne Slot.
Liverpool squad face possible salary reduction
Liverpool's displays in Europe this season should see them qualify for the knockout rounds but there is no guarantee they will partake in UEFA's premier club competition next year, if their league form does not improve.
Slot's side sit 10th after 15 matches with seven wins and six defeats to their name. Their form has undulated throughout the campaign and the team's hopes of retaining their Premier League title have been all but written off.
For some Premier League champions, winning back-to-back titles can prove a more difficult task than clinching one in the first place. While Manchester United of yesteryear and more recently Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have shown it is possible, the only other club to manage it, since Liverpool in 1984, is Chelsea, who did so on one occasion.
Most title winners don't experience a drop-off as pronounced as Liverpool's this season, already losing more league matches, and in the manner they have, than during the entirety of last term.
Most title winners, at the very least, manage to secure Champions League football the following year, even if they don't win the league back-to-back, but that is very much in the balance for Liverpool.
The current Premier League table takes on a concertina-like complexion at present with only 10 points separating Chelsea in fifth - the final Champions League qualification place - and Nottingham Forest in 17th.
Any team from 12th upwards can move into a Champions League spot with a win this weekend, leaving the division in a state of flux.
This means if Liverpool were to experience another prolonged run of poor form, they could see a cabal of rival teams move clear in the Champions League reckoning - or vice versa, of course.
According to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the Reds' first-team players have a 25 per cent salary reduction clause in their contracts, should they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Liverpool's wage bill last season was £386 million, meaning a cost-saving of approximately £96.5m would be made by the club in the event Slot's side finish outside the top five and don't manage to qualify via an alternative route.
This salary reduction, or financial penalty, depending from whose perspective you look at it, in theory mitigates for lost revenue the club would have earned from Champions League participation, which can be up to £100m.
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