Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri says his side are ‘closer’ to their Premier League rivals than he originally thought following the Blues draw with Liverpool yesterday.

The Italian’s side held the Reds to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, ending their 100% start to the Premier League season.

Chelsea also cma bout on top against Liverpool in mid-week, inflicting a 2-1 defeat upon Jurgen Klopp’s side in the Carabao Cup third round.

Sarri had originally hailed Liverpool, as well as Premier League champions Manchester City, as “one step ahead” of his current Chelsea team.

However, following the two results this week, he now believes his side are closer than he had first thought.

There are six or seven top teams here who are among the best in Europe, not just in England,” he said. “It’s not easy to get into the Champions League.

“We have to try to stay very close in the table with the top-level teams. And we have to try to improve more.”

When asked about the result on Saturday, he said: “I am really happy with the performance. We are improving match by match. We played against a top-level team and we played very well with quality and intensity.

“The draw is the right result.”