Liverpool have seen their form dip in recent weeks and after a series of losses, the Reds now find themselves sixth on the Premier League table.
The situation could get even worse as Liverpool take on Everton in the Merseyside Derby and a loss in this fixture would see Ancelotti’s side get equal on points with their local rivals.
Liverpool, at the start of the season, looked favourites to defend their league title but that challenge more or less has slipped away and now Klopp will have to make sure his side do not finish outside of the top-four.
Reds legend Gary Gillespie, in a recent interview, has tried to mark out the various reasons why his former side have seen a slump in form.
He told The Sportsman: “I think with no crowds it’s been difficult, not just from Liverpool’s point of view but for most teams. If you look at Everton, their away form is slightly better than the home form and that can be said for a lot of teams in the Premier League.
“It’s been the highest percentage of away victories so far (40%) so that suggests every team is struggling without any fans.
“I think Liverpool have been affected a little bit more, that might be an easy way out to get around the problems they’ve had. The centre-back positions haven’t helped them, they’ve had key men out at key times and sometimes it happens. After 68 games undefeated [at home] they can’t seem to win a game. You can’t put it down to one thing as to why they’ve struggled at home.
“I think when you look at most big games, all the key battles come in the middle area and that will be one area Liverpool will want to dominate.
“When you look at Liverpool and even the games they’re not playing at their best, they have had the majority of the ball. It’s using that possession to create opportunities to score and they’ve not been able to do that.
“It’ll be interesting to see the team selection, whether Jurgen Klopp will go with the new guys at the back and push Henderson back into the middle of the park to give them some more industry and guile and more of a threat going forward.”
Liverpool’s poor form cannot be attributed to one particular reason but the biggest problem for Jurgen Klopp is that his players have lost that invincible feeling.
The so-called minnows of the league are no longer afraid to take the fight to Liverpool in the hopes of picking up something and this the exact approach that Everton will be taking on Saturday.
The Toffees go into this derby at the back of 3-1 loss to Man City so they themselves need to make a statement of intent. And with Dominic Calvert-Lewin back in contention, Ancelotti will seriously be thinking of picking up a win.
The Toffees have picked up just one win out of their last five league outings but Liverpool have tasted three consecutive defeats in the league as well. So it will be interesting to see if Klopp tries his usual approach on Saturday or does the German manager order his players to tread a bit carefully.
