Leicester City may have been champions of England more recently than Liverpool but the Reds have shown in the first three weeks of this season that they could go close to claiming their first title since 1990.

It is still difficult to believe that the Foxes won the 2015/16 Premier League title and that they finished 21 points clear of eighth-placed Liverpool that season.

Klopp class showing through

However, Jurgen Klopp has galvanised Liverpool since he was named as Brendan Rodgers’ successor in October 2015 and the Reds now look well-equipped to challenge Manchester City this season.

The German has been given significant funds to bolster his squad and he has bought well with the acquisitions of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson in particular strengthening a team that scored 84 Premier League goals last season – only Pep Guardiola’s City found the net more frequently – but conceded on 38 occasions.

Cagey wins to nil have been the order of the day against Crystal Palace and Brighton and they are 8.25 to triumph 1-0 on Saturday, while a fourth straight clean sheet is 2.10.

It has not been the toughest of starts for Liverpool, 3.50 to win the Premier League title this season, but they are yet to concede after games against West Ham, Palace and the Seagulls, while Sadio Mane and Mo Salah have looked sharp in attack.

Liverpool could find it tough to extend their excellent start to the season though as Leicester knocked them out of the EFL Cup last term at the King Power Stadium. Klopp’s team also needed Simon Mignolet to save Jamie Vardy’s late penalty as they edged to a 3-2 league victory in the East Midlands in 2017/18.

Foxes performing under Puel

Claude Puel may have been linked with a move away from Leicester in the summer but he has enjoyed some successful transfer dealings in the last three months and has helped the Foxes make a solid start to the campaign.

The Frenchman has brought the likes of Ricardo Pereira, James Maddison, Danny Ward, Jonny Evans and Rachid Ghezzal to the King Power Stadium while selling Riyad Mahrez, Leonardo Ulloa, Ahmed Musa and Islam Slimani.

Leicester have responded by unluckily losing their opening match to Manchester United but then beating Wolves and Southampton and they look set to be pushing for a top-10 spot again following their ninth-placed finish last term.

Mighty Maguire the value in the scorers market

Jamie Vardy announced on Tuesday that he was effectively retiring from England duty so that he could concentrate on his Leicester career but he is suspended for this game.

In the forward’s absence, Harry Maguire, who scored the dramatic late winner at Southampton last weekend, can be backed at 15.00 to get on the scoresheet again.

Title test for Liverpool

Saturday’s is exactly the type of game that Liverpool need to win if they are to be regarded as Premier League title challengers, particularly as after this weekend’s match three of their next four fixtures are against Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City.

The Reds’ tighter defence may be the key to victory as this one looks set to be a close clash with very few goals.

One goal may well settle it with Roberto Firmino a good bet to register his first goal of the campaign at 5.50 to open the scoring. The Brazilian found the net 27 times in all competitions for Liverpool last season and it can only be a matter of time before he breaks his duck this term.

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