Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago Alcantara have both regularly featured in place of Gini Wijnaldum, now of PSG, this season as have Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Naby Keita.
But Cascarino believes neither Oxlade-Chamberlain or Thiago boast the same kind of skillset as Wijnaldum.
"The key reason why they are not as strong as they have been is that the midfield 'dogs of war' are more like dogs of straw at the moment," he told The Times.
"The three playing in there used to be so relentless and aggressive that they made it really hard for opponents to get at Liverpool. Now the centre halves are exposed.
"The big miss is Gini Wijnaldum, who left a big hole when he went to Paris Saint-Germain.
"Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago Alcantara do not do the same job, especially against big physical opposition such as Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek in the West Ham midfield. Fabinho can do the job but he didn't look fit to me.
"It's the reason why I think Liverpool will struggle to win the league, although what we've seen in the last week — Manchester City losing to Crystal Palace, Burnley holding Chelsea, and now West Ham beating Liverpool — tells me the winning points total will be less than 90 this season, unlike some recent seasons."
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