Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp thinks sacking Claudio Ranieri is crazy as voting for Donald Trump

After the events of the past year, it appears nothing surprises the Liverpool manager anymore

Jurgen Klopp was disappointed but not surprised by Claudio Ranieri's dismissal (Getty)

Leicester City's sacking of Claudio Ranieri is as strange a decision as Brexit or the election of Donald Trump, according to Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.

Ranieri was dismissed on Thursday, nine months after leading the East Midlands club to the English league title for the first time in their 132-year history.

Leicester have fallen away significantly since winning the Premier League, and are in danger of being relegated, sitting one point above the bottom three as they go into the weekend’s fixtures.

It means that they could be in the relegation zone by the time they host Liverpool on Monday, but Klopp still sees it as an odd decision to sack him.

He compared it to the decision of United Kingdom voters to leave the European Union in last June’s referendum, and Trump’s success in beating Hillary Clinton to win the United States presidency in November.

Klopp said: “What can I say? Am I surprised that things like this can happen? No.

“It is not only football. For me there have been a few strange decisions in 16/17: Brexit, Trump, Ranieri. Do I have to understand it all the time? Obviously not. I have no idea why Leicester did this.

“Everyone could see the situation in the league, the situation in the Champions League – which we are not in.”

Leicester have reached the last 16 of this season’s Champions League under Ranieri, and still have hopes of progressing further, having come back from their first leg away to Sevilla on Wednesday night with a narrow 2-1 defeat.

However, their domestic form has been poor; they have won just five Premier League matches all season, none of them away from home, and were knocked out of the FA Cup at League One side Millwall last weekend.

Klopp added: “He is a really special person in this business, a really nice guy. I met him before when he visited me at Dortmund and we had a nice talk. He is a wonderful person. Maybe you have to go to Leicester and ask them why they did it.”

Assistant manager Craig Shakespeare has been placed in charge of Leicester for Monday’s match, and Klopp has warned his players to expect an added threat from Liverpool’s opponents.

He said: “Does it change a lot for us? Not sure, we will see. I told the players at the beginning of the week that Leicester now know exactly what the problem is and we should expect the best Leicester City.

“You saw the Champions League game and the reaction after they scored: it was like two different games before and after they scored. Obviously they needed this goal to get confidence back. We have to think about this side and that is difficult enough.”

He is a wonderful person. Maybe you have to go to Leicester and ask them why they did it.

&#13; <p>Jürgen Klopp</p>&#13;

Liverpool will go into the match having had 16 days without playing, a result of having no fixture on FA Cup fifth round weekend after being knocked out by Wolves at the previous stage.

Klopp used the break to take his players to La Manga for warm weather training, although striker Daniel Sturridge had to leave the camp early because of a virus.

With his players refreshed, Klopp has demanded that his players do not allow Leicester an opportunity to regain their confidence after the setbacks they have faced.

He added: “Probably their players have to show a few things and they want to, it is obvious to not let them. Things I have no influence on I cannot really think about. If we play our best we will be difficult to play against whoever.

“We have to play our best football – that’s what we have been working on for 15 days.”