Liverpool’s miserable 2017 continued last weekend as they went down 2-0 away at relegation-threatened Hull.

Jurgen Klopp’s men would have been confident of a first league win of the year when they travelled to Marco Silva’s 19th place side, but goals either side of half-time from Alfred N’Diaye and then Oumar Niasse sealed a deserved win for the Tigers, who moved to within a point of safety as a result.

Defeat for Liverpool, their fifth of the season and second in three games, saw them slip to fifth in the table, and they now sit just a point ahead of sixth place Manchester United.

2017 has so far been one to forget for the Anfield faithful, having seen their side bow out of both cup competitions, and indeed all but end their chances to winning the Premier League title come May.

What surprised many others was that, while they were enduring this tricky run, there were no incomings at Liverpool during the January transfer window, and there weren’t too many that left Anfield either despite a testing first half of the season.

There were seven outgoings altogether during January, yet here are TWO other players that really should have left the club as well…

Alberto Moreno

Spanish international Alberto Moreno lost his place at left-back to James Milner earlier in the season, and hasn’t reclaimed it since.

The 24-year-old had a nightmare in the 4-3 win at Arsenal on the opening day of the season after making several errors, one of which was giving away a penalty, and the other was allowing Theo Walcott room to score.

Since that game, Moreno has made just one Premier League start, with six other substitute appearances suggesting that he’s not in Klopp’s plans for at least the rest of the season.

It’s clear that, at present, Moreno isn’t good enough to be the solid and dependable left-back Liverpool need, so it was slightly surprising not to see him leave Anfield last month, be it on loan or permanently.

He’s not going to dispose Milner of the left-back spot, so time away from the club may have been beneficial.

Daniel Sturridge

With Philippe Coutinho returning to full fitness, and Sadio Mane now back available for selection after the African Cup of Nations, it’s difficult to envisage striker Daniel Sturridge breaking into the first team.

The England international struggled to do just that earlier in the campaign, and took until December 27 to score his first Premier League goal of the season in a 4-1 victory over Stoke at Anfield.

However, he’s made just five starts in the league this term, and wasn’t effective in either legs of their League Cup semi-final against Southampton, both of which Klopp’s men lost 1-0.

Thus, a fresh start may have been needed for Sturridge, as it’s clear that he’s not in Klopp’s starting eleven when everyone is fit, and he’s not always the first choice off the bench either, given that he remained an unused substitute when they were chasing the win against Chelsea last week.

There was reported interest in the striker last month, namely West Ham and Southampton, which would have been ideal for Sturridge to get things going again after a testing time since Klopp arrived at Liverpool.