Former Liverpool player Fabinho has backed his old club to fight for the Premier League title after being impressed by their recent late wins.
Last-minute goals have secured the Reds victories over Crystal Palace, Fulham, Wolves and Newcastle to send them top of the table after 16 games.
Brazilian midfielder Fabinho praised the mentality shown by Jurgen Klopp's team as they face off with Arsenal, Manchester City and surprise early contenders Aston Villa.
"It's a good opportunity for them, it's always good to be top of the league," he told reporters at the Club World Cup.
"Of course there is much to play in the Premier League, teams like Arsenal, City - even Villa - are in the fight for the title.
"But as I said it's always good to be top of the league and to win games, it doesn't matter how and Liverpool have won some games by scoring after the 90th minute.
"So they've showed the mentality of the team. They've showed who they are, that they want to fight with City and the other teams to win the league."
Fabinho, 30, made the surprise decision to leave Liverpool for Al-Ittihad in July.
Having won the Club World Cup with the Anfield giants during his time on Merseyside, he is targeting the trophy once more this month.
Ittihad are the nominated home team of the tournament as Saudi Arabia's champions and beat New Zealand's Auckland City 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the second round.
N'Golo Kante scored and was Man of the Match for the Jeddah club, with Karim Benzema also on the scoresheet, to book them a showdown with African champions Al-Ahly. Should they overcome the Egyptians, they will face Fluminense for a place in the final where they could meet Champions League holders City a week on Friday.
