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Soccer pundits Paul Merson and Chris Sutton are in agreement heading into this weekend when Liverpool faces a tricky-looking game against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The Reds have won five out of five so far this season in the league and Arne Slot's side has also beaten Atletico Madrid and Southampton in the Champions League and League Cup respectively. But Liverpool is yet to properly click into gear and put in a complete performance, often needing late winners to get over the line.
Writing for Sportskeeda, Merson predicted a 1-1 draw in the game, with Oliver Glasner's men likely to cause problems for Liverpool a few weeks on from winning the Community Shield clash at Wembley on penalties.
"Crystal Palace have not lost a game since April and that's a run stretching back to 17 or 18 games," Merson said. "If Liverpool or Arsenal were on a run like this and won two trophies during the time like Palace, we would be going crazy, it's simply phenomenal.
"Should Liverpool win at Selhurst Park, they will go eight points clear of Arsenal before the Gunners play Newcastle away from home. So if Liverpool win this game and Arsenal lose on Sunday, the title race is over, finished!
"I know it sounds crazy and Arsenal have good fixtures coming up, but eight points between them will be too much.
"We were all choosing between Liverpool and Arsenal at the start of the season. And if anyone was on the fence back then and I told them Liverpool would have an eight-point head start, no one would have backed Arsenal for the title!
"That was when we still had 38 games left to play, and we only have 32 after this weekend.
"Arne Slot was frustrated with Hugo Ekitike's red card because now it forces him to play Alexander Isak for longer than he may have wanted initially.
"We all know Isak is still only getting up to speed, so it would have been nice to have Ekitike coming off the bench later. But he's unavailable now.
"I told you last week that Liverpool should go back to Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield and they did that against Everton.
"I expect Slot to respect Palace and play the same midfield trio in this game. You don't want Adam Wharton to be dictating things in midfield, so I'd be shocked if Florian Wirtz started this game through the middle.
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"If you get three points away from home against Palace, it is a massive boost in the title race because they are a team that can upset one of your rivals. I think this will be a tight game and Liverpool could be forced to settle for a draw."
Making his predictions for BBC Sport, Chris Sutton went with a 0-0 draw, also suggesting that Liverpool will drop points.
"Part of me is thinking that Liverpool are going to click soon and just absolutely annihilate someone," he said. "At the same time, I just don't think that is what will happen against Palace.
"Palace got the better of them on penalties in the Community Shield and while I am not sure you can read too much into that, I am going for another draw this time."
Liverpool.com says: It is going to be a tight game but Liverpool has a good record at Selhurst Park, despite the perception. It hasn't lost at that ground since November 2014 and a victory tomorrow would be a huge boost.
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