Joey Barton has a penchant for getting himself in the headlines, doesn't he?

Now that the former Burnley midfielder works as a pundit, it seems like we're going to be treated to a fair few more of his controversial sound bites every week.

However, this time, he might actually have a point.

Earlier this week, the one-time England international claimed that Liverpool may have actually regressed under Jurgen Klopp since the German arrived at Anfield back in 2015.

The Reds drew with champions Chelsea last weekend and it could be argued they had the better of the play, too. Still, as far as records go, Klopp has failed to surpass what his predecessor Brendan Rodgers achieved over the same amount of time with the club.

"Liverpool are getting closer to the other sides than they are to winning the league," Barton said on talkSPORT.

"They are actually regressing under Jurgen Klopp. They are not getting any closer to wining the league. Manchester City are now 14 points ahead of them having played the same amount of games. They are closer to West Ham, who are in the relegation zone, than they are to the top of the table."

However, Klopp refuted Barton's suggestion at a pre-match press conference on Friday and insists that the Chelsea game is perfect evidence that the side is making strides in the right direction.

"Yes, we’ve made progress 100 per cent," Klopp claimed ahead of his side's trip to Stoke.

"We’ve been more patient in the right way in specific games. Last year we had really, really good performances (against the top teams), but now we are in a new season and we feel in a really good way.

"Chelsea are an unbelievably difficult team to play, we played them in a completely different manner. We dominated them. That’s fantastic. We didn’t win, but I still feel we are in a good way."

With Mohamed Salah firing on all cylinders in addition to the class of Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool have plenty going for them.

Their defensive frailties seem to consistently let them down, though, and Klopp will need to address that area of his squad if he ever intends to make real progress.