‘Liverpool will win the title comfortably’ – Former Man City boss Pearce predicts Reds success

Liverpool will “win the Premier League comfortably this year”, says former Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce, with the Reds not expected to lose more than two games.

The defending champions have already suffered that number of setbacks in the 2019-20 campaign, with Pep Guardiola’s side coming unstuck against Norwich and Wolves.

Those at Anfield are yet to stumble, although they did suffer a slight wobble during their most recent outing at Old Trafford.

Adam Lallana rescued a point in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United five minutes from the end, with Liverpool’s run of 17 successive league wins ended by their arch-rivals.

Stalemate with the Red Devils has seen an advantage at the top of the table cut to six points, with City still the closest challengers to Jurgen Klopp’s troops.

Former Blues manager Pearce cannot see them getting much closer, with a first top-flight crown in 30 years expected to make its way to Merseyside.

“I think Liverpool will win the Premier League comfortably this year,” Pearce told talkSPORT.

“I’m not sure they’ll go unbeaten, but I can’t see them losing more than two games. They’re still clear favourites.

“Those could be against Manchester City, potentially, but if you go into the game against your nearest rivals with a six-point buffer, it will put real pressure on Man City to come out and play.

“That might just suit Liverpool.”

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Those in the Reds camp have attempted to play down any suggestion of the Premier League title being theirs to lose.

There is, however, acceptance that standards need to be raised again following a subdued performance against United.

Liverpool captain Henderson told the club’s official website: "I didn’t think we performed well enough in the first half, not our usual selves really, especially with the ball.

“We could have been a lot better but I thought second half was a lot better. We changed it a little bit tactically, which helped us, and I thought the longer the game went on we were pushing for that winner, and towards that last five to 10 minutes I thought we were going to get it.

“But, like I say, we have got to be much better for the 90 minutes. I was disappointed we couldn’t come here and put on a top performance because I felt as though we could have done that.

“When you can’t win, you don’t lose, and that’s the sign of a good team. But we’ve got to learn from the game and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”