Ex-Liverpool Midfielder: Tottenham Won't Derail Reds' Overdue Title Tilt

Gary McAllister believes his former club Liverpool will be among five clubs competing for the Premier League title this season but is refusing to consider Tottenham Hotspur as potential challengers.

With five wins from their opening seven league games, Brendan Rodgers' side only trail leaders Arsenal on goal difference in an unpredictable start to the season which has seen Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all suffer early defeats.

After making eight new additions in the summer, coupled with the return of Luis Suarez, Liverpool have been widely tipped to launch an assault on their first league title for 23 years, but McAllister omits Tottenham from the potential challengers for the most open championship race in over two decades.

"Everyone was praising Arsenal and haven't really given Liverpool a mention," McAllister told talkSPORT.

"People have been saying Liverpool might sneak into the top four and get Champions League.

"I think Arsenal and Liverpool might be the two that go under the radar and surprise the 'big three' of Manchester City, Man United and Chelsea.

"It's going to one of five this time [who wins the title] rather than one from two."

Tottenham signed seven news players in the summer to offset the loss of Gareth Bale, but following an emphatic 3-0 loss to West Ham United prior to the international break, questions remain over Andre Villas-Boas' side.

Christian Eriksen, Eric Lamela and Roberto Soldado were among the raft of changes made by Tottenham in the summer but as yet the new signings are still to gel.

An early season defeat to north London rivals Arsenal, prior to the record signing of Mesut Ozil, emphasised the difficulty of uniting a squad which have experienced little playing time together and Villas-Boas faces the challenge through the remainder of the season of keeping pace with their rivals.

Spurs have failed in the last three seasons to qualify for the Champions League and despite the sides in and around them having sufficiently improved also, expectations have swelled around White Hart Lane.