Jurgen Klopp
Klopp is the leading contender to replace Rodgers. Getty Images

Former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp is expected to succeed Brendan Rodgers as the new Liverpool boss after the Northern Irishman was removed from his post after over three years at Anfield. Rodgers was sacked after the 1-1 Merseyside derby draw with Everton at Goodison Park on 4 October which extended a run of one win in the club's last nine games.

Klopp has been installed as the bookmakers' favourite to replace Rodgers, ahead of ex-Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti and Ajax's Frank de Boer, while Inter Milan's Walter Mazzarri and Jurgen Klinsmann are also considered to be contenders for the role. After eight league games the Reds are currently 10<sup>th in the Premier League, six points off the top.

The 48-year-old's position as the leading candidate to replace Rodgers is enhanced by comments from former Premier League player Jan Age Fjortoff, now a television pundit in Norway and Germany, who believes Klopp is being lined up by Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group. Fjortoff had claimed that Ancelotti was the club's preferred choice but has revealed that Klopp is being pursued.

"Got a feeling that Ancelotti is Liverpool's first choice," the former Norway international wrote on Twitter. "Proven record in many countries. Am told, by my German source, that Klopp will be the next manager of Liverpool Football Club [sic]."

Since leaving Dortmund at the end of last season, Klopp has been without a job after opting to take a year out of the game. During seven campaigns with the club he won successive Bundesliga titles and guided them to the 2013 Champions League final.

Across 122 games as Liverpool manager, Rodgers won 63, drew 30 and lost 29 and his tenure at the club ends without a major trophy, becoming the second boss since the 1950s to fail to deliver silverware during their spell in charge of the 19-time English league champions. Rodgers did guide the side to a title tilt in the 2013-14 season but just one win from their last three games saw them finish two points behind eventual champions Manchester City.

Rodgers' final game in charge produced a sixth Merseyside derby draw in the last seven games as Danny Ings' goal was cancelled out by Romelu Lukaku's strike on the stroke of half-time. Liverpool's next game comes against Tottenham Hotspur on 17 October, following the two-week international break.