Jamie Carragher is unsure whether Liverpool will win the Premier League under Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp has presided over a difficult start to the Reds’ season in which they have won just one of their opening seven games in all competitions.
Saturday’s visit of Manchester United could see the Anfield club fall 10 points behind the pace in the Premier League title race after barely two months.
Carragher was involved in the Liverpool side that went agonisingly close to ending a two-decade wait for domestic success under Rafael Benitez in 2009.
But the former defender is pessimistic that Klopp will be the man to succeed where numerous managers have continually failed over the past 27 years.
“Liverpool will not win the title this season,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
“I am not convinced Jurgen Klopp will ever be able to bring it back to Anfield.
“I am not sure when my old club will win it again. I certainly do not see it happening in the near future.”
Carragher went on to cast further doubt on Klopp’s abilities to deliver a title to Liverpool and cited his former club’s less than impressive defensive record.
He added: “No team have won the league conceding the number of goals of Klopp’s side.
“I have seen startling statistics demonstrating the inefficiency of Liverpool’s defending.
“In the 111 games since Klopp took over Liverpool have kept 37 clean sheets.
“To put that into perspective, in one season under Benitez in 2005-06 we kept 33 clean sheets.
“You cannot win the title defending like Liverpool.”