It is a statement to send shivers down the spine of the club’s American owners, but Steven Gerrard will feel he was merely stating the obvious: that Liverpool, Champions League finalists for two of the past three seasons, face a serious challenge if they are to qualify for next season’s competition.

Their visit to Chelsea on Sunday brought one of their more resolute performances of the season, but a 0-0 draw left them three points adrift of Everton, in the fourth Champions League spot, and level on points with Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Liverpool have a game in hand and also play in the last 16 of the FA Cup and Champions League over the next seven days, but Gerrard, who was talking up their title hopes just three weeks ago, admits that their focus in the Barclays Premier League is now purely on finishing fourth.

“We realise that it’s going to be difficult to finish in the top four,” Gerrard said. “We’ve got to forget about winning it and focus on fighting for fourth place. There are a lot of teams around us who are in good form and playing well. It’s important we don’t let our standards drop or we won’t get fourth. Now we have to kick on from Sunday and make sure we don’t keep drawing games we should be winning.”

Liverpool can ill-afford to miss out on the minimum £10 million revenue from playing in the Champions League at a time when they have been lumbered with an annual interest bill in the region of £30 million after the recent refinancing deal by Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr.

The likelihood remains that one or both of the American tycoons will sell their stake to Dubai International Capital, but rumours on Merseyside yesterday about an imminent takeover were dismissed, with sources indicating that no agreement is yet in place.