UNKLOPPABLE TO THE UNTHINKABLE

MOCKED by taunts of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ ROCKED on the pitch as his drained men are second best So is the clock really ticking on Jurgen’s reign at Anfield?

NINE months after taking his side to the brink of an unprecedented Quadruple, Jurgen Klopp could be walking an Anfield tightrope.

In May 2022 Liverpool were in with a major shout of winning every competition they had entered.

In February 2023 they are OUT of the FA Cup, OUT of the League Cup, OUT of the topfour chase, and almost certainly OUT of the Champions League if they play like this against Real Madrid.

Where once Liverpool’s performances were simply unstoppable, they have now become unacceptable, and critics have begun to think the unthinkable – Klopp’s Mersey reign is coming to an end.

Only six Premier League managers are rated more likely to be sacked than Klopp, just 11-1 with bookies to be next top-flight gaffer to go.

By comparison, Sean Dyche, who has just taken charge of relegation-threatened Everton, is 50-1. Liverpool’s next game is the Merseyside derby – so imagine how quickly those

Klopp odds will fall if Liverpool slip to yet another defeat.

At Molineux they were two goals down inside the opening 12 minutes against a side who only twice this season had scored more than one goal in a Premier League game.

Liverpool did have a go at that point, enjoying 73 percent of the possession after the break, but their desperation to get a goal back saw them concede a third to Ruben Neves.

Klopp’s verdict on the decisive opening 12 minutes was damning as he reflected on a Joel Matip own goal followed by a Craig Dawson strike. Seconds after Dawson smashed home the second goal, Klopp (above) displayed his despair, turning on his seat, splaying his arms out in exasperation and mouthing “Unbelievable!”

Things didn’t just go wrong for the visitors, they went wrong incredibly quickly and the telling thing is that if they had gone in 4-0 down at halftime they couldn’t have had any complaints.

Klopp fumed: “The start was horrible. First 12 minutes and 2-0 down? It’s not allowed to happen.” But it did. Klopp’s half-time rage might have stirred them into action, but it was all too little, too late.

Liverpool’s awful defending will attract the most criticism but they are struggling badly up front too. In fact, since the Premier League resumed in December after the World Cup,

Liverpool’s top scorer in the competition is .... Wout Faes, the Leicester defender who scored two own goals at Anfield.

It got so bad for second-rate Liverpool in the Black Country that Wolves fans starting serenading Klopp with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning.” And a parting of the ways, which last season would have been a preposterous suggestion, no longer appears unthinkable.

There is no doubt Liverpool’s 63-game campaign last season has had a massive impact and they have been badly hit by injuries but can that excuse such an alarming tailspin?

This was a sixth defeat in 10 Premier League away games this term. To put that into perspective, they lost only nine away games in the previous four seasons, and two of those came after they had been crowned champions in 2020.

Fulham are ahead of them. Brentford are ahead of them. Brighton are ahead of them.

And here’s the most damning stat. A massive 21 points off top spot, Liverpool are just 11 points above the drop zone.