Liverpool's American owners are under pressure from Boston Red Sox fans to not devote so much time to their soccer division.

Jordan Kobritz, former baseball team owner and now head of the sport ­management ­department at the State University of New York, says John W Henry and business partner Tom Werner were under ­increasing pressure from Red Sox fans and the Boston media after a ­miserable season for the seven-time World Series winners.

"There is animosity, there is jealousy, there is fear - because fans automatically think ownership's attention and financial resources are focused on Liverpool," Kobritz told the Sunday Mirror. "Even if the fans don't think that way first then the media in places like ­Boston will promote that.

"The problem they (Henry and Werner) have is they're under scrutiny constantly from the ­Boston media. The spotlight is more intense in ­Boston than any other market here, with the possible ­exception of New York.

"People pore over every move, far more so than, say, Randy Lerner in Cleveland or the Glazers at Tampa. The Glazers are virtual nonentities in the US ­because the market they're in with Tampa doesn't have the intense focus of the market in New York, ­Boston or Los ­Angeles.

"I don't think they're ­cutting back on Liverpool to invest in the Red Sox but questions would be asked if they started spending big over there after taking the decisions they've taken back home."