Steven Gerrard believes Chelsea still need to reinforce two areas of the pitch to be able to compete with Arsenal, Manchester City, and Liverpool.

The Blues still sit in fifth place in the Premier League despite the 1-0 away defeat to Sunderland on Sunday. However, their spot in the top five is largely because many of their expected competitors, such as Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Aston Villa, have also struggled with consistency.

Chelsea are also 11 points behind league leaders Arsenal. While they are mathematically still in the race for the title, it is hard to see them being in the conversation come the end of the season.

Liverpool legend Gerrard thinks Chelsea have the quality to contend for the title higher up the pitch, but they will have to strengthen their defensive third.

“100 per cent,” Gerrard said on The Overlap when asked if Chelsea should look to reinforce their defence in the upcoming transfer windows.

“Chelsea have good defenders. I really like Reece James when he’s fit and available and plays right-back. I think he’s the best right-back in the country. Obviously, (he has) got his injury problems, which have been well documented.

“I really like Colwill because he gives them nice balance and the left foot. They’ve got a fantastic goalkeeper now (Emiliano Martinez), who I’ve worked with (at Aston Villa).

“When I looked at the midfield and the front line and think, that can compete.

“But with all due respect, I think for Chelsea to compete with your Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, and the top end of the Champions League, they need to find world-class centre-backs and a world-class left back.

“That would be my opinion.”

This is quite interesting since, based on earlier reports, a new centre-midfielder is understood to be at the top of Chelsea’s transfer wish list rather than a new defender. Bournemouth’s Alex Scott is suggested to be high on their list.

In fairness, it is somewhat expected. Chelsea failed to secure a replacement for Enzo Fernandez late in the summer transfer window, including the collapsed move for AS Monaco’s Lamine Camara. Therefore, they are expected to resume their efforts in the upcoming January transfer window.

Chelsea also already acquired players in the two positions Gerrard mentioned last summer. Maxence Lacroix was signed to join Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Josh Acheampong, and Aaron Anselmino in central defence.

Pep Chavarria, meanwhile, joined as a left-back option, alongside Jorrel Hato and the versatile right-backs Malo Gusto and Marco Palestra.

It is difficult to call these defensive signings a success yet, given Chelsea have conceded the second-most goals (16) in the top half of the table after 10 games, but many would consider their defensive depth an improvement over what they had last season.

It also seems unlikely that Chelsea would be able to bring a new defender in January without first offloading one of their current options.

Xabi Alonso has also had to deal with several key injuries, including James’ and Lacroix’s. Neither is expected to be back until early 2027, which is a big blow, but this also means Chelsea will likely want to wait until the end of the season before deciding whether they want to make defensive personnel changes.