Craig Bellamy says he expects Manchester City to defend their Premier League title despite Liverpool's lead at the top of the table.
City were tipped as pre-season favourites after winning the English top flight last term, finishing 19 points ahead of runners-up Manchester United.
However, three defeats in their last four matches have seen them slip seven points behind Jurgen Klopp's leaders.
While Liverpool remain the only team in the league not to have suffered a defeat so far, former Reds and City star Bellamy believes Pep Guardiola's men are still in with a good chance of taking the title.
"I don't believe Liverpool will go unbeaten, they will lose one or two games, and I personally think Man City will win the league," he told Sky Sports.
"I think Pep Guardiola would be rubbing his hands saying 'game on - last year, we won it so comfortably, now let's see what we've got'.
"They have a manager who is a serial winner so they have a lot of factors that they can look back on.
"With seven points to make up, especially over the Christmas period, you can get that back. Don't write Man City off yet."
The ex-Cardiff City striker believes the key detail will be in how the Reds bounce back from their first loss of the season.
"It's how they respond, those are the key moments," he added.
"I remember losing the league title on the last day at Celtic. Having that experience next time around with Cardiff in the Championship, it was like 'calm down, take one game at a time, just win the next game and don't worry about who we have got in three weeks.'"
Man City's next game is against Southampton on Sunday, a day after Liverpool take on fifth-placed Arsenal.