Jurgen Klopp is in the most vulnerable position yet of his tenure at Liverpool. September so far has failed to bring a single victory, and on Tuesday, Liverpool's 2-0 loss at Leicester was the month's second defeat. However, exiting the Carabao Cup was far less of a problem for Klopp than the repetition of defensive mistakes that have plagued his team in the Premier League.
A similar outcome against the same opponents at the same venue in Saturday evening's match and the pressure will only be increased. At the King Power, Klopp admitted he was "sick of conceding goals like this," but as he approaches two years at Anfield, such nausea has been a constant that Liverpool have never been able to shake.
Klopp faces accusations of an inability to organise a defence, and keeping faith in the likes of Alberto Moreno and Dejan Lovren goes against the judgement of many fans. The reputation of Virgil van Dijk, the signing that got away, grows ever more on Merseyside as the players he was supposed to supplant or play alongside make those mistakes.
Liverpool's current run is beginning to bring back memories of his final season at Borussia Dortmund. Not nearly so dramatic -- Dortmund dropped into the Bundesliga relegation zone ahead of the winter break in the 2014-15 season -- but Liverpool cannot afford to lag behind the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, forging ahead of them in the table.
For now, the pizzazz has gone from the heavy metal showman, and Klopp's trademark beaming grin no longer shines so bright as when Liverpool are captivating the Kop. Perhaps this is a temporary blip, it might be even be the curse of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose arrival from Arsenal has coincided with his new club's winless run, but Liverpool badly need to get back on track at Leicester or else the clamours of discontent will keep getting louder.
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