Manchester United defender John O'Shea has not ruled Liverpool out of the title race after they lost their third game of the season at Chelsea on Sunday.

The Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge leaving Rafa Benitez's side falling to more in defeats in their first eight Premier League games than their entire 2008/2009 campaign.

However, Red Devils defender O'Shea believes United's bitter rivals are more than capable of turning things around.

When asked if Liverpool were no longer title contenders, O'Shea told Sky Sports News: "No, it's still too early.

"Liverpool are, as you could see from last season, able to put a run together and it wouldn't surprise me if they get on a huge run of unbeaten games and get back into contention."

O'Shea, whose side now trail Chelsea by two points at the top of the table after their weekend success, expects both Carlo Ancelotti's Blues and Arsenal to challenge for the top honour this term.

"Chelsea are going to be there and Arsenal with the way they are playing - we were quite fortunate against them when we played at home," he added.

"They dominated the game quite a bit but to be fair we were more clinical and I think they will be there or there-about as well."

O'Shea believes United's form has been excellent since their shock defeat at Burnley in August and the Republic of Ireland international reckons Saturday's draw with Sunderland is a point gained rather than two dropped.

"We've had a lot of tough games, especially after the Burnley result and we went on a very good run of winning games," he said.

"We had two tough games in Europe to start the Champions League campaign and we've had two wins there.

"(It's) disappointing, obviously, against Sunderland but to be fair it looked as if we were going to get beat, but we pulled something out of it. We got a point and that point could be crucial at the end of the season."