Xabi Alonso and Chelsea were sent back to the drawing board on Sunday courtesy of a 1-0 loss to Sunderland, with Steven Gerrard sharing some sage advice with his former team-mate

Steven Gerrard believes that Xabi Alonso should headhunt two "world-class" centre-halves and a left-back in the January window, should he hope to thrive with Chelsea.

The Blues looked stagnant on Sunday as they fell to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Sunderland AFC at the Stadium of Light, Enzo Le Fee converting from the penalty spot in the first-half after Brian Brobbey was brought down by Levi Colwill.

Brobbey proved a handful for the Chelsea back-line for the duration, using his strength to keep opposition defenders at bay for the duration.

Meanwhile, Pep Chavarria and Marco Palestra struggled to deal with the pace of Trai Hume, Thomas Meunier, Chemsdine Talbi and Reinildo down the wings, with the Black Cats - who have consistently struggled to create chances this term - providing opportunity aplenty for their centre-forward to latch onto.

Chelsea, meanwhile, struggled to break through Sunderland's defence for the duration, with the hosts making the Stadium of Light a fortress for the visitors to fail to penetrate.

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As a result, Sunderland clinched just their second win of the season to boost them to 19th in the Premier League standings. In contrasting fashion, the Blues sit fifth thanks to five wins, one draw and four losses from their opening 10 games.

However, Gerrard believes that Alonso should be looking to bolster his defensive line in January, should he have any hopes of challenging for the league title with Chelsea.

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Speaking on the Overlap Daily, the Liverpool legend - who shared the pitch with Alonso as a player - said: "Chelsea have good defenders.

"I really like Reece James when he’s fit and available and he plays right-back. I think he’s the best right-back in the country.

"I really like Colwill, because he gives them nice balance and the left foot. They’ve got a fantastic goalkeeper now, who I’ve worked with.

"And I look 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 Arsenals, Man Citys, Liverpools, and the top end of the Champions League, I think they need to find world-class centre-backs and a world-class left-back.

"That would be my opinion. Can I just relate that to when I played: Ashley Cole, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Branislav Ivanovic.

"Now, that’s a back four that can compete and proved that it can compete at the top end of the Premier League and the top end of the Champions League.

"If I look at Chelsea’s back five now, I go Emiliano Martinez and Petr Cech, okay, not much in it. Martinez has proved he can win a World Cup and really perform at that high level.

"I think the Chelsea defenders have still got to prove themselves, that they can go and compete at the top end of the Premier League and also the top end of the Champions League.

"Because that back four that we played against at Chelsea, with Claude Makelele in front or Michael Essien in front, that was some base to a spine.

"They were top world-class players. I think for Chelsea to go to the next level, they need to recruit that."