Gary Neville agrees with Jamie Carragher on brutal Chelsea transfer message after Liverpool loss

Gary Neville believes Chelsea need to add a "world-class" goalkeeper and striker before they can challenge the top teams in the Premier League.

The Blues are now sixth in the table following the eighth round of league fixtures, where they were narrowly beaten 2-1 at Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. The defeat is just the west Londoners' second of the season and their first loss away from home in the Premier League.

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones cancelled out Nicolas Jackson's strike just after half-time at Anfield. Chelsea, though, were excellent on the day and arguably deserved something to show for their brave performance on Merseyside.

Speaking on his podcast after the game, Neville said: "A lot better placed than they were last season. It feels like something is building, it looks like the players enjoy it.

"I go back to that first game of the season against [Manchester] City, on Monday Night Football which is the one I did the day after, I actually took Tottenham out of my top four and put Chelsea in it because there was something I saw against City even though they lost that I liked.

"I feel the same again today, there is a lot to work with there to like. They are a little bit raw at both ends of the pitch at times and you feel there is development. But they are young and the owners will be a lot happier.

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"I would say at this moment in time there is some promise. It looks like they are believing in the coach. The fans look like they are a lot happier with it as well.

"I think today, they showed really good courage to come here and play [like they did] in the first-half. This is the toughest place to come and play and I think they demonstrated they could come and play and take the ball.

"They do still make mistakes in certain parts of the game but that is every single team. I would still reiterate the two most difficult positions on the football pitch are centre-forward and goalkeeper. They are the two most influential positions on the pitch and if they have someone world-class in those positions then I do think they can be a real threat to the top teams in the next years if the rest of them can grow and continue to improve."

Neville's comments came around the same time as his Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher, who also spoke about how Chelsea needed to improve their goalkeeper and striker. Robert Sanchez was largely criticised for his role for Liverpool's second goal of the game, with Jones having far too much time on the ball due to the goalkeeper's hesitancy.

"In terms of going for a title challenge next season they would still have to rectify the goalkeeping situation and someone up top," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "You can build a squad to get to where you are now and the top four, but you need gamechangers [to go for the title] and Liverpool did that in terms of bringing Alisson in, that made a huge difference for them."

It was testament to how well Chelsea played at Anfield that Liverpool's eight shots was the fewest they have had in a home game since February 2021. The Blues also dominated possession on Merseyside, ending the match with 57.3% of the ball against the Premier League leaders.

"I think the performance was very good," Enzo Maresca told reporters after the game. "I just said, we don't like losing games, dropping points but if you have to decide the way, then this is probably the way. I've been in the stadium many times and have seen Liverpool for a long time, it's not easy.

"I think overall, we controlled the game and for most parts of the game we dominated the game, but we lost. We are not happy. We don't like [it] but as I said, the performance on and off the ball was very good."

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