Gerrard: African Nations will affect title race

Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard believes his side are still in contention for the title with teams such us Chelsea and Manchester City set to miss key players in the African Cup of Nations.

He said: “Everyone will have blips and some of the teams lose important players with the African Nations.”

The Reds captain insists there is a long way to go before people can start predicting who is going be crowned this year’s league winners.

“It's a long season with a lot of games and a lot football to be played yet,' he said.

'Chelsea, Tottenham and Man City have got off to good starts but there is a long way to go before you start predicting who will be up there at the end.'

The tournament, to be held in January 2010, will go on for three weeks and will cause teams among the top four plenty of headaches.

Liverpool who have had a mixed start to the season but look to be in the strongest position for January with no African players among their starting XI.

Chelsea will lose key players in Ivory Coast strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, Ghana midfielder Michael Essien and Nigerian John Obi Mikel.

Manchester City will also be struggling with new signings Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast) and Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) missing out.