Ruud van Nistelrooy saw Leicester City's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool as a missed opportunity for the Premier League strugglers, despite the Reds' status as title favourites.

Leicester dropped into the Premier League's relegation zone earlier on Boxing Day, due to Wolves making it two wins from two games under Vitor Pereira by beating Manchester United.

The Foxes then threatened a major Anfield upset as Jordan Ayew scored a sixth-minute opener, only for goals from Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah to hand the hosts three points.

Leicester now have the league's joint-worst defensive record, having shipped 10 goals in three successive defeats to Newcastle United (0-4), Wolves (0-3) and Liverpool (1-3).

Van Nistelrooy's team attempted four shots in the opening 10 minutes but did not manage a single effort for the remainder of the match, and despite their status as huge underdogs, he was frustrated by their failure to hold on.

"It is up to us to keep developing and creating gameplans for every opponent," Van Nistelrooy told Amazon Prime Video.

"The gameplan was there, players knew what to do and acted  it, but today was the maximum possible.

"Anfield is not the place where we usually collect the points, but for our development we have to do it as the points need to be collected."

Leicester are now one point behind 17th-placed Wolves ahead of clashes with Manchester City and Aston Villa, and Van Nistelrooy says they need to strengthen in the January transfer window.

"It is a great possibility to look at. It's a tool to look at as a club," the former Manchester United striker said. "It's a good option."

Liverpool are now seven points clear of their nearest rivals Chelsea at the summit, though Arsenal could cut their advantage to six points when they face Ipswich Town on Friday.

Van Nistelrooy believes the Reds – now given a huge 88.2% chance of title success by the Opta supercomputer – have a great opportunity to be crowned champions this season.

"You never know in the Premier League and many things have happened before, but looking at this team and how stable they are and the depth of their squad they have a great chance," Van Nistelrooy said.