Robert Lewandowski has insisted that he believes former boss Jurgen Klopp can lead Liverpool to the Premier League title this season.
The pair spent time working together at Borussia Dortmund where Klopp helped his player develop into one of the best forwards in Europe, and they certainly enjoyed great success at the Bundesliga giants before the Polish international moved to rivals Bayern Munich.
Klopp has since left Germany for Liverpool where he will celebrate a year at the club this weekend, and has seemingly made significant progress this season.
The Merseyside giants currently sit fourth in the Premier League table with five wins in seven games thus far, leaving them just two points adrift of league leaders Manchester City.
Lewandowski believes that a lack of European football this year will help Klopp’s men in their pursuit of domestic honours, and is full of confidence that the German tactician is capable of ensuring that they are genuine title contenders this season.
Speaking exclusively to Goal, Lewandowski said: “Under Klopp I think they will be fighting for the title this season.
“Pep and Manchester City will not make it easy for anybody to win the title, but Liverpool have a real chance.
“Without European football it can really help them with being fresh for games and with injuries and, even though Klopp is always smiling, he is ruthless enough to take advantage of that.”
Lewandowski went on to call Klopp a “father figure” and believes that not only are the Liverpool players enjoying their football, but they trust their manager to make the right decisions and believe in his methods to bring success to Anfield.
Time will tell as to whether or not all that actually delivers silverware, as with expectations growing with each passing week, the pressure will continue to build on Liverpool as they look to challenge the likes of City, Arsenal and Tottenham at the top of the table.
Goals haven’t been an issue for the Reds with 18 scored in seven games, but they also have the worst defensive record of the top 10 teams which will need to be addressed if Lewandowski’s prediction is to become a reality.