Liverpool legend John Barnes has written off his former team's chances of lifting the Premier League title this season.

The Reds travel to Stoke City this afternoon knowing that victory would propel them up to fourth in the standings, four points adrift of current leaders Chelsea.

The team's title push has been inspired by the form of Luis Suarez, who has fired 20 league goals this season en route to topping the goalscoring charts.

However, Barnes does not believe that the prolific Uruguayan can sustain his form for the remainder of the campaign and predicts that Brendan Rodgers's men will ultimately fall away as a result.

Speaking to a Capital One Cup blog hosted by FootballFanCast.com, Barnes said: "If they can keep their best 13 fit, then they've got a title challenge.

"But history has shown over the last 25 years that that doesn't happen. Players will lose form. Luis Suarez will not continue to score two goals every game like he has done.

"And what happens then? Do they have other players to supplement him? Can they continue to win matches and to sustain that level of performance if Suarez all of a sudden loses form? Or if a key player gets injured? The answer is 'no'."

This afternoon's encounter at the Britannia Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 4.10pm.