Eamon Dunphy believes Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool are just "one good defender short" of winning the Premier League after their positive start to the season.
The Merseysiders have won four, drawn one and lost one - away to Burnley - of their six games this season and hammered Hull 5-1 last Saturday to move up to fourth in the table.
"He (Klopp) is going to do great things at Liverpool," the RTÉ soccer analyst told 2fm's Game On. "He’s bought well - (Saido) Mane is a super player.
"It’s only six games in, but I’d be very confident that Liverpool will be bang there at the end. "
"I think they’re just one good defender short of being champions.
"I think they’ll eat Manchester United when they play in a couple of weeks’ time. And when they get their hands on Guardiola, they’ll eat him as well."
Dunphy was less complimentary of Chelsea, who were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates, and questioned the desire of stars like Eden Hazard.
"They were a shambles," he said.
"I’ll make two admissions. First of all, I was saying Chelsea were certainties for the top four, so that’s how stupid I can be, but I also said that I thought Liverpool would win the league.
"I don’t think Hazard can put a shift in anymore. He doesn’t want to work. There’s no doubt about that. They made Arsenal look like Barcelona.
"I’d say Conte is having nightmares. The Italians are renowned for good defending and being rock solid as a team. He says ‘we’re giving away two goals every match’, that’s an Italian nightmare."
Manchester United ended their three-game losing streak in style, thrashing champions Leicester 4-1 at Old Trafford, which Dunphy believes hinged on the selection of Juan Mata over Wayne Rooney.
"I think the key change was bringing Mata into the team," he said. "I thought Mata was the man.
"He’s been their best player for the last two years, but he doesn’t get his game and when he plays he gets hauled off.
"Mata made the difference. It wasn’t Pogba who made the difference.
"I still think Rooney has a role to play, but only as a striker. We’ll see if Ibrahimovic is still going over Christmas."
