Emile Heskey has dismissed Liverpool's title chances because he fears they will be unable to keep pace with "relentless" Manchester City.
The Premier League returns this weekend, with City already flying high and on the coat-tails of early leaders Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola's City team are undefeated with five wins and two draws so far, plus a league-high goal difference of plus 17, six better than any other side.
By contrast, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool have won only two of six games to date, struggling to match the high standards they set when pushing City all the way to the final day in last season's championship.
Former Reds striker Heskey declared Liverpool are "probably not" in this season's title race, telling Stats Perform: "I think their main focus is top four now because Champions League is a must.
"I think City are relentless. Give them an inch, they'll take a mile. They know how to exploit things.
"They might be 1-0 down, but you know that they're going to come back. And this is the relentlessness that I think Liverpool had a couple of seasons ago, and they're trying to get back now.
"I don't think it's going to be a particularly bad season getting into the top four, I think it is still massive."
Heskey said "everyone knows" losing Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich amounted to "a huge miss" for Liverpool, with the sale having gone through in late June, ending a six-year Anfield stay for the Senegalese forward.
Former England international Heskey rates Luis Diaz and is hopeful Mohamed Salah will roar back to Golden Boot form, having made a somewhat underwhelming start to the campaign, with two goals and two assists in six league games.
"The thing with Mo, is we are so used to it," Heskey said of the Egyptian's prolific scoring. "But when it wasn't Mo, we had another person that could take up that mantle.
"And if you haven't got that other person to take up that mantle, who will get you the goals that Mo used to as well, you can then start pointing back at Mo and saying, 'Well, he's not doing this, he's not doing that'.
"But the pressures come with that and he understands that, and he's able to get on with that and deal with it. He's a fantastic player.
"I think just give him the ball and let him go and enjoy himself again. When you saw Mo Salah smiling, that's when you know that you've got something good. Even when he's missing chances and he's smiling, you know that he's on form."
Liverpool face Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, their first domestic game in four weeks, after two postponements in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death were followed by the international break.
Darwin Nunez has yet to show his peak Benfica form in a Liverpool shirt since switching from the Portuguese giants in the close season, but Heskey suspects the talent is there for the Uruguayan striker to become a "phenomenal" Premier League performer.
As was the case with a pair of Arsenal greats, Heskey feels Nunez could come good after a settling-in period.
Heskey said: "He's still a young player and one thing we've got to understand is, these players coming from abroad who are coming and adapting, not all of them adapt straight away.
"It's a bit of an anomaly for the ones who just come in and just fit straight in.
"You need to give them time. You've got to remember Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry didn't just fit in and click straight away, and we're talking about Premier League greats. So give him the opportunity, and give them the time to settle in. I know we don't have time, but give them time to settle in and he will be a phenomenal player."
Van Dijk: Liverpool have 'no chance' in title race after derby defeat
Virgil van Dijk conceded Liverpool might be out of the Premier League title race after they suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat to Everton in Wednesday's Merseyside derby.
Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in either half to give the Toffees their first win over Liverpool at Goodison Park since 2010.
Liverpool struggled to find a way through the Toffees' defence despite dominating for long periods, and the Reds' captain says they will not outlast Arsenal and Manchester City without major improvements.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Van Dijk said: "If we play like today, then we have no chance to consider ourselves in the title race.
"We have to just focus on the next game and that will be a tough one anyway, so we will see.
"We're very disappointed, in so many ways. I think everyone has to look at their own performances. Did they really give everything, and do they really want to win the league?
"We're still fighting and there are still games after tonight, but if we play like we did overall in the game today – not winning challenges and giving the referee a chance to give free-kicks like he did many times, then you have no chance to win the title."
Dyche challenges Everton to 'go and do it again' after crucial derby victory
Sean Dyche challenged his Everton players to "go and do it again" after his team defeated Liverpool at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby.
Everton won 2-0 on Wednesday, clinching a home victory over their local rivals for the first time since 2010 thanks to goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
While it also dented Liverpool's title hopes, the victory presented a huge step forward in Everton's hopes of staying up.
They are now eight points clear of the relegation zone, with four games left to play, and the possibility of points to come back should they successfully appeal the second of their points deductions for financial breaches.
Dyche, though, insisted the job is not done as he looks towards another big game on Saturday, when Brentford visit Goodison Park.
"Very pleased with the reaction," Dyche told Sky Sports.
"This was a different game with the organisation and the belief in the organisation. They're a good side, we know that. The commitment from us had to be there. The energy of the side and also the key moments.
"We spoke about the desire and the energy of the team and the physical side of the game. The lads did it on Sunday and they'll have to do it again. That's the challenge.
"We stayed focused tonight and I asked if they could stay with us and they did. Sunday was massive and now it was a massively important derby game. For people like Seamus Coleman, he wears his heart on his sleeve and he's so happy.
"We should be on 41 points and the story's different. Three clean sheets in three home games. The challenge for the players is to go and do it again."
Calvert-Lewin led the line brilliantly, converting Everton's second with a towering header early in the second half. He has scored three goals in his last four Premier League games for the Toffees, as many as in his previous 28 appearances in the competition.
"I thought [Calvert-Lewin] was outstanding tonight," Dyche said.
"We've been trying to get him back to where he needs to be and I thought he was outstanding. He gets a goal. He tried to get it over the line and I love that. The second one is a great header. No, I thought he was outstanding tonight.
"Jordan Pickford made some big saves in the first half. It's rare you stop these sides having chances so you need moments yourself. It's hard to pick out one or two [players]."
Everton 2-0 Liverpool: Reds' title hopes dented as Toffees seal derby victory
Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes were dealt a potentially fatal blow as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to city rivals Everton in an exhilarating Merseyside derby.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin's header made sure of the Toffees’ victory – their first in a derby at Goodison Park since 2010 – after Jarrad Branthwaite had poked them ahead.
Luis Diaz came closest to launching a Liverpool comeback, but struck the post, leaving Jurgen Klopp's side with just one win from their last four top-flight outings.
Defeat leaves the Reds three points behind league-leaders Arsenal with four games left, with third-place Manchester City yet to play, while Everton moved eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Everton dominated the early stages and thought they had the chance to take the lead from the spot after just six minutes. Alisson felled Calvert-Lewin in a one-on-one, but the striker was offside in the build-up, and the penalty was overturned after a VAR review.
The Toffees looked particularly dangerous from free-kicks, and Liverpool were given a warning when Calvert-Lewin’s thumping header was parried by Alisson.
Liverpool were left to rue their slack defending in the 26th minute as it pinballed around their box, with Branthwaite’s low shot eventually beating Alisson and spinning over the line off the inside of the post.
Jordan Pickford made three big saves to keep Everton in front at the break, denying Darwin Nunez, Diaz, and Andy Robertson as Liverpool rallied.
While the Reds made a bright start to the second half, they could not take their chances, and Calvert-Lewin punished them from a corner as he rose unmarked at the back post to thump a towering header into the bottom-left corner for his third goal in four games.
Liverpool’s best chance fell to Diaz in the 69th minute as he finally unlocked Everton’s defence, but a brilliant curler struck the right-hand post – the 22nd time Liverpool have hit the woodwork in the league this season.
Mohamed Salah also squandered a late chance, blazing over the bar from close range to sum up a wasteful night for the Reds as Everton held on for a potentially pivotal result at both ends of the table.
Dyche’s defence rallies
Each of Everton's last seven victories in the Premier League have been to nil, an impressive feat as they have failing to win any of their last 12 when conceding at least once (D4 L8).
They had to dig deep to get another vital three points in the relegation battle, keeping Liverpool at bay with impressive blocks from the brilliant Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Ben Godfrey, as well as excellent saves from Pickford, who was on form to deny Harvey Elliott and Salah in the dying embers.
This win also ended a run of 12 without a victory against Liverpool in the Premier League at home, which was their longest such run against any other opponent in their league history.
Nine days ago, Everton were thrashed 6-0 by Chelsea. Now, after just their second derby win in over 13 years, they are within touching distance of safety.
Title hopes extinguished?
For the 22nd time in all competitions this season, Liverpool were punished for a slow start as they conceded the opening goal.
Jurgen Klopp, on his farewell tour, was aiming to become the first Reds manager to win 10 Premier League Merseyside derbies but instead suffered just his second loss against the Toffees (W9 D6).
It was just Liverpool’s second defeat in their last 27 games against Everton (W12 D13), and with Man City having two games in hand, it could have just ended their title challenge.
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