Liverpool suffered a third Premier League defeat in five games on Monday night when they went down 3-1 at champions Leicester.

Jurgen Klopp’s men made a disastrous start to 2017, but finally registered their first league victory of the year with a 2-0 success over Tottenham two weeks ago, a result which kept them fifth in the table.

However, they produced a laboured and hopeless display at the King Power Stadium on Monday, with a brace from Jamie Vardy and a stunning strike from Danny Drinkwater sealing a comfortable win for the Foxes, who only last week sacked manager Claudio Ranieri after a run of five straight league defeats.

The result leaves Liverpool in fifth in the Premier League after a fifth defeat of the campaign, but they missed the chance to get above Arsenal in fourth and indeed put distance between themselves and sixth place Manchester United, given that neither side played due to the League Cup final, which the latter won at Wembley.

With the Reds out of both cup competitions, the Premier League is their only focus between now and May, so securing a top four finish is their only priority and one they really must achieve given their fine run of form pre-Christmas.

However, they have struggled for form in recent times, as have some players, and there will be some who won’t be certain whether they’ll be at the club next season.

Thus, here are THREE Liverpool stars who will be playing for their futures between now and May…

Lucas Leiva

Former Brazilian international Lucas had a nightmare against Leicester City on Monday night, and it looks like his decade-long spell at Anfield may be coming to an end this season.

The 30-year-old moved to Merseyside all the way back in 2007 from Brazilian outfit Gremio, and he has gone on to play 333 times for the Reds, although his only trophy at Liverpool came when they won the League Cup back in 2012.

Lucas has been a solid defensive midfielder throughout his time in England, although this term has seen him play a bit-part role, either coming on as a substitute, or starting at centre-back, like he did against Leicester on Monday.

However, the 24-times Brazilian international sees his contract expire at the end of the current campaign, so he’ll have to prove his worth to Klopp and the squad over the coming weeks and months to extend his stay at Anfield.

Alberto Moreno

Left-back Alberto Moreno has seen midfielder James Milner overtake him in the pecking order, which must demonstrate to him that his career at Liverpool needs very quickly salvaging.

The Spanish international started their opening game of the Premier League season away at Arsenal and, although Klopp’s men won 4-3, Moreno made several defensive errors, one of which resulted in a penalty, and another in a goal for Theo Walcott.

Unsurprisingly, the 24-year-old has been used sparingly by Klopp since then, starting just one other league game and a whole host of cup matches, yet he still doesn’t look like the answer to their left-back concerns.

Nonetheless, Milner is not the long-term option and at the age of 24, Moreno has time, yet you sense that he needs to improve when he’s on the field over the coming months to remain a Liverpool player for a while yet.

Daniel Sturridge

There was speculation that England striker Daniel Sturridge would leave Anfield in the summer after restricted first team opportunities, although no move materialised for the prolific forward.

The 27-year-old has scored 59 goals in just 113 appearances for the Reds since moving there in January 2013, but has been restricted to just five Premier League starts this term, the last of which coming in their 2-2 draw at Sunderland on January 2.

With the likes of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Philippe Coutinho ahead of Sturridge in the pecking order, it’s going to be difficult for the England international to get regular football, but he has to put himself into the position to do so by impressing whenever he does get on the pitch.

He hasn’t done that much lately, and you sense that unless he improves and gets more football between now and May, his future at Liverpool will be up in the air come the summer.