Klopp defended by former CEO

have less spending power than Manchester United, but Jurgen Klopp has done a “fantastic job”.

Those are the thoughts of former Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow.

United spent close to £150million in the summer on Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic, while Liverpool splashed out shy of £80m.

Liverpool host United on Saturday at Anfield in one of the most combustible and highly-anticipated fixtures of the campaign.

Jurgen Klopp’s men haven’t begun the season as they would have wished and they

Thave already conceded 12 goals.

United meanwhile have been keeping pace with crosstown rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League and look like a force to be reckoned with under Jose Mourinho.

And while Purslow accepts the gap in wealth between Liverpool and United, he still thinks that Klopp, who recently celebrated his two-year anniversary in charge of the Merseyside outfit, has done an exceptional job.

“There are revenue differences between Manchester United and Liverpool,” Purslow told Sky Sports. “Liverpool’s are still superb but they are a fraction of Manchester United.

“And yet the Liverpool manager is expected to compete with United and beat them, exactly as Klopp did – winning two league titles in Germany against Bayern Munich with a fraction of their spending.

“He is perfect for Liverpool. It is an innately difficult project, to compete with less money. I think most Liverpool fans would feel that the team began under Brendan Rodgers with a very new, highly attacking, attractive way of football.

“He is the right man for the job and that’s going to take five years, not two years.” – Express Newspapers