Chelsea have not made a great start to the season, admits N’Golo Kante, with the Blues “not where we want to be” after taking only eight points from a possible 18.
There have been signs of encouragement from the Blues in the 2019-20 campaign.
A humbling 4-0 defeat away at Manchester United on the opening weekend offered an early wake-up call, but Frank Lampard’s side have not been too far off the pace since then.
They are, however, struggling to turn potential into something more tangible.
Lampard saw his side trouble Liverpool for long periods on Sunday, but the Stamford Bridge faithful were left to reflect on a 2-1 defeat.
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Chelsea find themselves sat 11th in the table as they continue to seek a spark, with Kante conceding that they had been hoping for much more.
The France international midfielder said on the club’s official website: “It is not a great start, we have work to do.
“We are not where we want to be but we can fight and change this in the next games.”
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Kante starred for Chelsea against Liverpool, with an all-action display capped by a well-taken goal.
His efforts were not enough to claim a positive result, but the 28-year-old World Cup winner was happy to be involved after shaking off a niggling knock.
He added: “It was good to come back.
“I was happy to come back in front of our fans and for this big game. I am disappointed by the result but I am happy to be back to help the team to try to win.
“We tried our best during the game and we are disappointed by the result. With the two set-pieces they scored they put us in difficulty but had some good chances.
“As soon as they scored to make it 2-0, we went in the changing room believing all together that we can do it and as soon as I scored, we had the chance to come back into the game but we were not able to get the result we wanted.”
First-half goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino downed the Blues, with Liverpool once again proving destructive from dead-ball situations.
Kante said: “The first one was a beautiful goal but the second one we maybe could do better but at the end, we played well, we tried to come back but the set-pieces meant Liverpool won.
“We played very well in the second half. We were able to score one but not to equalise, but there were some good points in the performance and we need to take those points on to have a good result in the next game. If we keep working this way we can get a win in our next game.”
Chelsea have a Carabao Cup third-round clash with Grimsby to take in on Wednesday before then playing host to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.