The Reds' Premier League title defence has completely collapsed but they could yet salvage their season by seeing off Leipzig in BudapestRight then, what kind of fresh hell awaits Liverpool this week? Just when the Reds thought their season had reached rock bottom, they went and found yet another trap door to fall through. Defeat to relegation-threatened Fulham on Sunday represents a new low for Jurgen Klopp and his beleaguered troops, who have now lost their last six games in a row at Anfield, and taken just 12 of the last 42 Premier League points on offer. Editors' Picks Liverpool's missing link: Fabinho's midfield return key to salvaging Reds' season Messi and Ronaldo both miss Champions League quarter-finals for first time in 16 years Messi bows out with bolt from the blue - but can improving Barcelona persuade him to stay? Undroppable? Match-winner Mahrez leading Man City's charge to the titleTop of the table at Christmas, Liverpool find themselves in the middle of it by March. Their title defence was over by the end of January, and even the idea of a top-four finish looks fanciful now. At this rate, they’ll do well to make the top 10. The question now, if we even dare ask, is just how bad can things get? There is an assumption that it simply has to improve, that the quality of the players and the manager will eventually tell, that things will click and the luck will turn. But what if it doesn’t? What if it gets worse before it gets better? It couldn’t, could it? Klopp hinted on Sunday that the Champions League may provide some much-needed solace, during this time of crisis. Liverpool resume their European campaign on Wednesday night with the second leg of their last-16 tie against RB Leipzig, a ‘home’ game which, like the first leg three weeks ago, will be played in Budapest. Given the Reds’ Anfield struggles of late – they have failed to win their last eight games there, and scored just one penalty across their last seven – that is not the negative it would usually be. Klopp’s side arrive carrying a 2-0 advantage from the first leg, and are naturally strong favourites to clinch their place in the quarter-finals. And what a much-needed boost that would be. And yet it would be dangerous to assume progression is a given. Liverpool’s form is too poor, their resources too stretched, their confidence too brittle. They are not scoring goals, their midfield is loose and the centre of their defence, whoever plays, is inexperienced at this level. Leipzig may have been underwhelming in the first leg, their sloppiness deservedly punished by Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, but Julian Nagelsmann knows his side are still very much in the tie. Score first, as plenty of sides have against Liverpool of late, and the Reds’ already-fragile belief will be pushed to a new extreme. The Germans have been playing well themselves.