Steven Gerrard believes big-spending Chelsea still need to sign three ‘world-class’ defenders to compete for the Premier League title.

Chelsea’s inconsistent start to the season continued on Sunday as Xabi Alonso’s side were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland.

Enzo Le Fee broke the deadlock at the Stadium of Light with a first-half penalty after Levi Colwill was penalised for a foul on Brian Brobbey.

Chelsea had almost 70 per cent possession during the game but failed to create many clear-cut chances and returned to Stamford Bridge empty-handed.

A fourth defeat of the season leaves Chelsea fifth in the Premier League heading into the November international break, 11 points behind defending champions Arsenal.

The Blues have conceded 16 goals in the league so far, the seventh-most in the division and more than any other team in the top-half of the table.

Asked whether Chelsea’s next round of recruitment needs to start with the defence, Gerrard said on The Overlap Daily, sponsored by Sky Bet: ‘100 per cent.

‘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.

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‘But with all due respect, I think for Chelsea to compete with your Arsenals, Man City’s, Liverpool’s, 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.’

Alonso called on his team to be more ‘creative’ in the final third after a disappointing defeat to previously bottom Sunderland.

‘The game has been really tight, really competitive, not many chances,’ he said. ‘The goal came from that penalty.

‘We were not creating enough chances in the final third against the low block. We were not controlling and sustaining the attack there.

‘You can do it, we spoke and worked. We didn’t do good enough but we worked during the week to control his powers. For sure in a few situations we didn’t do well.

‘Today was going to be tough, a really close game. This team give you so much space and so much of the ball we need to be more precise and patient.’