Steven Gerrard explains what Chelsea must do to compete with Arsenal and Liverpool

Steven Gerrard has said Chelsea must sign world-class defenders if the club are to compete at the top end of the Premier League.

Chelsea are fifth in the Premier League table after a mixed start to the season under new head coach Xabi Alonso. The Blues are the third-highest scorers in the division, but have been vulnerable defensively.

Chelsea have conceded 16 goals in just 10 league games, with only 10th-placed Aston Villa conceding more among top-half teams. Premier League leaders Arsenal have conceded only five times.

Gerrard believes Chelsea must recruit a better standard of defender if the West Londoners are to close the gap on the Premier League's top teams. He said the successful Chelsea teams of the past were all built on world-class defensive foundations.

"I think for Chelsea with Arsenal, City, Liverpool, and at the top end of the Champions League, I think they need to find world-class centre-backs and a world-class left-back," the former England captain told The Overlap Daily.

"When I played: Ashley Cole, John Terry, [Ricardo] Carvalho, [Branislav] Ivanovic. Now that's a back four that can compete, and proved it can compete at the top in the Premier League, and at the top in the Champions League.

"If I look at Chelsea's back five now, [Emi] Martinez and Petr Cech, ok. Not much in it, Martinez has proven he can win a World Cup and really perform to a high level. I think that the Chelsea defenders still need to prove that they can go and compete at the top end of the Premier League.

"That back four that we played [against] with [Claude] Makelele in front or [Michael] Essien in front. That was some base to the spine. They were top, world-class players. I think for Chelsea to go to the next level, they need to recruit that."