Jurgen Klopp has told his Liverpool troops not to be fooled by Chelsea's early-season nightmare, insisting that they are Premier League champions for a reason.
The Reds travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday knowing that victory could reportedly spell the end for manager Jose Mourinho in West London, with the Blues 15th in the table and 11 points behind co-leaders Manchester City and Arsenal.
Klopp can sympathise with the Portuguese, having endured a similar plight with Borussia Dortmund last term, but the German warns that Mourinho's men are the same players that cruised to title glory in May.
"I wasn't interested in what was being said in public last season," he told a press conference. "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."
Klopp is yet to secure a league win since replacing axed Brendan Rodgers, drawing his first two top-flight games with Liverpool.
Shane Callaghan
