Klopp: I feel sorry for Mourinho

Jurgen Klopp has expressed sympathy for Jose Mourinho as a poor start to the season leaves him on the brink of the sack at Chelsea.

Reports have suggested that Mourinho's time at Stamford Bridge could come to an end if his side lose to Klopp's Liverpool on Saturday, having led the Premier League champions through a woeful defence of their title so far, as they sit 15th after 10 league games.

However, the new Reds boss insists it is possible for Mourinho to turn it around - pointing to his own experiences as proof that it is possible

Borussia Dortmund fell out of the Bundesliga title picture spectacularly last season under Klopp, and went into the winter break bottom of the pile before recovering and scraping European qualification.

"I wasn't interested in what was being said in public last season," Klopp said of those struggles. "I had a responsibility to the Dortmund fans and players.

"If people didn't understand our problems, then I didn't care. You have to rule your own situation.

"Most of the problems are in the press conferences when you have to find the answers. Sometimes you don't have the time to change things between matches.

"Mourinho isn't a worse coach than last year. The players aren't worse than last year. Things happen. I feel for him as I had something similar but it's not the end of the world. They can still play football and that's our problem."

Clashes between Liverpool and Chelsea have taken on an extra edge in recent years, with the sides' rivalry intensifying off the back of the Merseyside club's contentious Champions League semi-final win in 2005.

But Klopp pointed out that this season's clash may not live up to the billing.

"It is a big match but in 15 years in football I've had some big matches," he added. "I don't read the newspapers so I don't know what you think about this game but it wouldn't change anything if I knew it because I am full of motivation to win games.

"The better the opponent the more excited the world around us is. Maybe in history it was a great game. Now it is ninth versus 15th."