Liverpool could end up winning the Premier League this season but even if they don't, Tony Barrett believes the club have got the colour back in their cheeks.

The Times football writer joined us ahead of Liverpool's home game against Sunderland and thinks the club is back on an even keel after some years in the doldrums.

"There's a period of four or five years where Liverpool went through difficult times on and off the pitch. It lost its way in the way they played football, it lost its way in the way the football club conducted itself and its now back on an even keel and it's back as a club with a new sense of direction, positivity and belief in itself," said Barrett. 

He explained that the internal politics of the club is steadier than at any point during the past five years.

But citing the signings of Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto, Barrett believes the transfer policy still has some room for improvement, although he added that they will be signing from a position of strength this summer.

And as for the rest of this season, Barrett said that it is only in the last weeks that players have slowly begun to publicly entertain the possibility that they can grab the league title.

"I think what they've decided as a policy internally is 'why create pressure for yourself by talking about it too much?' And they've kind of stuck to that. But it is at the point now where it is inescapable because if Liverpool were to win tonight, they would go within a point of Chelsea for the lead and there's no getting away from the title race at that point."