The former Anfield fan-favourite has hailed his old club’s new shot-stopper after his strong showing at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has already proven himself to the club, says former Reds star Bruce Grobbelaar says.

Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Premier League and won their first seven games in all competitions, keeping four clean sheets in the process, and Alisson has started every game bar one so far this season.

And Grobbelaar believes that Alisson has played a big part in their strong start to the season, highlighting his performance in the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Chelsea as an example.

“Liverpool have bought Alisson for the amount of points he’s going to be saving at Liverpool this season,” he told CNN Sport.

“He saved us points on Saturday against Chelsea with his saves.

“He has proved his worth just in that game and look at where Chelsea are in the league. Kepa has been tremendous this season as well.”

The ex-Zimbabwe international feels that the true value of goalkeepers is now being reflected in the transfer market, following the record-breaking deals for Alisson and then Kepa by Liverpool and Chelsea.

“If you asked all the goalkeepers in my era, they will tell you that they were worth a lot more than the price they were bought.

“I can see now the value that the transfer is making on goalkeepers because they are looking at statistics.

“If a goalkeeper can save you 15-20 points a season, his value is high. It’s like a striker scoring 20 goals a season.”

Grobbelaar also shared his thoughts on this season’s Premier League title race, insisting it is wide open, and that Liverpool have a good chance of lifting the trophy under manager Jurgen Klopp.

“I’ve got no doubt, it’ll go to the wire. Not only two but three or four [teams] — Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and another … perhaps Arsenal. But never rule out Manchester United and [Jose] Mourinho. I think they will pull it together.

“I go back every home game, and everybody has this tingling feeling that perhaps this year is the year we do something.

“We have started much better than the years before. We just hope we can continue the run and Mr Jurgen Klopp continues to produce the team spirit that he has done for the rest of the season.”

The midfielder has struggled to break into Chelsea’s team since returning from a loan at Selhurst Park last season

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has vowed to try to bring Ruben Loftus-Cheek back to the club if he concedes defeat in his battle for first-team football at Chelsea.

Loftus-Cheek spent last season on loan at Palace and impressed enough to earn a place in England’s World Cup squad, returning to Stamford Bridge for 2018-19 in the hope of enjoying more game time following the exit of Antonio Conte.

But with Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic adding to the January signing of Ross Barkley, new coach Maurizio Sarri is spolied for choice in midfield, so much so that neither Danny Drinkwater nor Cesc Fabregas have made a single Premier League appearance this term.

Loftus-Cheek has featured just twice from the bench, and has not played enough to persuade Gareth Southgate to pick him in the latest England squad. 

Hodgson remains an admirer of the 22-year-old, and indicated he’d be happy to bring the midfielder back on loan should the opportunity arise. 

“Ruben Loftus-Cheek did an outstanding job for us when he came here,” Hodgson told reporters on Friday.

“He really answered all the questions that we hoped he would answer, and luckily for us, and even more for him, it got him recognised by the national team.

“He found himself in Russia representing England, which was a perfect end to the season he had for us.

“We admire him, we like him very much and we wish him well, and of course, like a lot of other clubs, I’m sure when the day comes when he becomes available for a transfer, we will be sticking our noses into that, but whether we will get him again, that’s another matter. Who knows, we will see.”

Palace will face Wolves on Saturday at Selhurst Park in Premier League action.

The Blues defender was considering leaving Stamford Bridge over the summer but he is now back in a prominent role after the club changed managers

Maurizio Sarri says he likes David Luiz’s direct style of communciation and that he is picking up the new style of football quicker than anyone, as he brings him back into the fold at Stamford Bridge.

The 31-year-old made only 17 appearances under Antonio Conte last season after falling out with the former head coach, leading him to not making an appearance for the club from February onwards.

Luiz had offers from clubs to leave London over the summer and is open about the fact that he would have left had Conte stayed the manager at the club.

Sarri quickly brought him back into the fold and he has started him in every Premier League game so far this season.

“Yes, I have to say he is a lot better than a thought,” Sarri told reporters at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Saturday. “A lot better, both as a player and as a man. I don’t know what happened before I arrived, but when I arrived here, immediately I had the feeling that he is a very good player for my way of football because he is a very technical centre back.

“Then I appreciated his qualities as a man. He is direct, if he has to say something to the manager, to talk to me. Then he goes directly to me. I don’t know [if Conte didn’t like it] but I like very much the direct people. I like this [communication] very much.

“He was a little confused because two seasons ago he was a protagonist then he had six months without playing, he was a little confused. I think he is very able to play my football with his characteristics. He is very able to start the actions from the defensive line. So I think he is very suitable for me.”

The Brazil international is highly regarded at Stamford Bridge having helped the club win their first ever Champions League in his first spell at the club and having played over 200 times in the blue shirt.

It is clear that Sarri and Luiz have established a good relationship and the centre back returned the compliments to his manager, who has surprised people by keeping Chelsea up near the top of the table after a disappointing fifth-place finish in the league last season.

“Sarri is giving us a lot of happiness to play football. We are trying to enjoy,” Luiz told Chelsea TV. “He gives us a lot of confidence. He shows us what he wants. He gives us the details about the game.

“He works hard in every situation. And also as a human he’s a fantastic person. Every single day he says to us ‘you have the best job in the world, so you have to enjoy’. You have to try to do this with a big smile. Many people in the world don’t have this privilege.”

Alongside Antonio Rudiger, Luiz has established himself as the first choice centre back and he made a remarkable clearance against Liverpool from Roberto Firmino as his club tried to get a huge win over a key rival. However, ex-Blue Daniel Sturridge scored a stunning long range strike late on to dash those hopes.

Nevertheless, Sarri was happy with the defensive efforts of his team and he thinks that Eden Hazard is underrated for the work his does in stoppping the opposition.

“I am really very happy with him today,” added Sarri about Hazard. “Especially for the defensive phase, especially for the defensive phase in the second half when the team needed some help from him. I am really very happy. For us, this attitude is important.

“We are trying to defend looking at the ball and if we are defending looking at the ball then we need every player to participate in the defensive phase, otherwise it is impossible. So I am really happy with the defensive phase of Eden today.

“I think that we have played very well. We have had five or six chances. I also think Liverpool have had five or six opportunities. We have played against a top level team, so I am disappointed about the result but only because they have scored in the last 10 minutes of the match. I think that the draw was the right result for a wonderful match.”

The Reds striker needed only one chance to snatch a point for his side at Chelsea in the most spectacular of fashions

He only needed four minutes.

Four minutes to make his mark. Four minutes to silence the boos of his former supporters. Four minutes to light up a blockbuster clash in the most spectacular of manners. Four minutes to save his side’s unbeaten start to the season.

What a moment for Daniel Sturridge! What a moment for Liverpool!

Having looked like taking nothing from a frantic but frustrating clash with Chelsea, they escaped with a point that keeps them rolling on, kept off the top of the table only by Manchester City and their superior goal difference. City, of course, visit Anfield next weekend.

Jurgen Klopp had spent much of this game in a state of anger, but when the time came he grabbed the dice and rolled a double-six. Sturridge, summoned from the bench to replace James Milner in the 86th minute, delivered.

What a goal it was!

Collecting a pass from Xherdan Shaqiri, he turned to find options limited in front of him. No bother, he simply drew back that gifted left foot and unfurled the most explosive of shots. Whipped but with power, it flew past Kepa Arrizabalaga, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, and into the top left-hand corner of his net.

It was Sturridge’s 50th league goal for Liverpool, and his fourth of this campaign – surpassing his tally for the whole of last season. He’s the club’s joint top-scorer, despite starting just two of their nine games in all competitions. The dance in front of the away end had extra feeling.

Having chosen not to cash in on the England man in the summer, Klopp’s faith has already been repaid. This could prove a crucial point come the end of the campaign.

“He’s in the best shape since I’ve known him,” Klopp said afterwards. “He’s a fantastic football player, and just a good lad.”

It had looked for a long time as if Eden Hazard’s goal, finished clinically 25 minutes in, would settle this contest and that Liverpool would be left to rue their own wastefulness.

Mohamed Salah, tentative on his return to his former club, missed a trio of openings in the first half, and both he and Roberto Firmino had efforts scrambled off the line. Shaqiri sliced horribly wide with an excellent opportunity shortly after his own introduction. 

“It’s like riding a bike,” Klopp said. “You don’t wake up one morning and forget how to finish, or how to ride a bike. That’s how it is.

“A good football team, which we are, creates chances. If we play like we did tonight we will win football matches.”

Sturridge, thankfully for Klopp and for Salah and Shaqiri, had a trick up his sleeve. He was jeered upon his arrival, Chelsea fans clearly not enamoured with their former striker, but he was to have the last laugh.

Fit, sharp and scoring, he could be a key figure if Klopp’s side are to keep themselves at the top of the Premier League table. Not many sides have a striker of his quality to call on as a backup. 

Liverpool weren’t terrible here, working hard to limit Chelsea’s space and having more than enough of the ball. Rather, that cutting edge to which we were accustomed last season was lacking. Salah looked short, Firmino was peripheral, Sadio Mane too. Still, Chelsea needed Kepa to make a marvellous one-handed stop to deny Mane after half-time. The visitors always carried a threat. 

In the end it was a draw which felt like a victory to those who had travelled down from Merseyside. Liverpool’s supporters were left singing as they headed off towards Fulham Broadway, given a moment to savour by their No.15.

Chelsea may well rue their luck. Sturridge is renowned as a finisher, but not necessarily from that distance – though, as Klopp pointed out, he hit the bar with an eerily similar effort on Wednesday night at Anfield.

Maurizio Sarri’s men will have felt they had done enough to ride out the Liverpool storm, and could have wrapped up the points through Hazard in the second-half. This time, Alisson was equal to the brilliant Belgian.

That proved to be a huge save in the end, the Brazilian making himself big as Hazard raced clear from N’Golo Kante’s quick free-kick. It was, in fact, as decisive an intervention as Sturridge’s.

Sturridge’s, though, is the one which will be replayed up and down the country. We can close the book on goal of the month, surely?

Liverpool’s four-minute man kept the Reds’ charge on course.

Manchester City put their unbeaten league record on the line when they travel to their closest challengers for the title

Pep Guardiola insists his Manchester City team will not travel to Liverpool in trepidation despite their poor recent record at Anfield.

The Premier League champions have lost on their last four visits to the red half of Merseyside, including twice during the 2017-18 campaign.

Liverpool inflicted upon City their first league defeat of the last campaign in a 4-3 thriller before claiming a 3-0 success in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in April.

Though the draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge ended Liverpool’s 100% record this season, both sides have unbeaten streaks to protect when they clash next Sunday.

“I believe too much in that team, in those guys,” said Guardiola

“I know how they fight. Go to Anfield, win, lose, whatever. 

“It’s a long time ago Man City was able to win at Anfield. What I want to see is the team alive, and we are alive.

“If they beat us three times, they are a good side. 

“They lost the first game in the Carabao Cup [against Chelsea last week] but at Anfield they score a lot of goals, they don’t concede.

“Now it’s Hoffenheim [on Tuesday in the Champions League], and after that we are going to prepare [for Liverpool], and after that we’re going to prepare for Burnley. 

“At the end, we’re going to see what happened at the end of the season.”

Two Premier League wins in 2016 over City means Liverpool have prevailed in the last four home games against Guardiola’s men, but next weekend’s game could prove to be pivotal in terms of the destination of the title.

Liverpool are widely accepted to be City’s closest challengers for the championship and have an opportunity to put daylight between themselves and the reigning champions ahead of the upcoming international break.

The young midfielder created the opening goal as Lucien Favre’s side dispatched Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus has credited the impact of “street footballer” Jadon Sancho in helping ignite a sense of euphoria at the club after the English youngster starred in Wednesday’s 3-0 win against Monaco in the Champions League.

Lucien Favre’s team sit top of their group with two wins from two and lead the Bundesliga table after six games, a point clear of faltering champions Bayern Munich, after making an unbeaten start to the season.

And club skipper Reus believes Sancho – who has been handed a maiden call-up to the senior England squad to go with his new contract – and Jacob Bruun Larson, the 20 year-old Danish winger who returned to Dortmund in July after spending last season on loan at Stuttgart, can help mount the team’s first sustained title challenge since they last won the league under Jurgen Klopp in 2012.

“Actually, there’s a certain euphoria about the boys right now,” Reus told Bundesliga.com. “They give us a lot of input, help the team a great deal and still shine individually.

“It’s really good what the boys are producing. Bruun Larsen came on [against Monaco] and made it 1-0 straightaway. It’s really crazy right now – we hope we can continue in this form. But it’s also hard work and right now we have a good feeling on the pitch. We’re playing with a lot of confidence and that’s what’s setting us apart at the moment.

“If you have street footballers like Jadon and Jacob then it’s really fun. We can be happy that we have these players and that things are going so well. But on Saturday against Augsburg it’ll be another very different game. We have to mobilize all our energy again before the international break.”

Dortmund had dominated against Monaco at the Westfallenstadion for the first 45 minutes without finding a way through, and the deadlock was broken shortly after half time when substitute Larsen collected Sancho’s delicate through ball on the edge of the box and slotted past Daniel Subasic. 

And the former Manchester City youth team player has been instrumental in Dortmund’s rise to the Bundesliga summit, scoring or assisting a goal every 20 minutes during the opening five games of the season.

The 23-year-old suffered an apparent back injury off the ball less than 20 minutes into the Champions League tie in Italy

Naby Keita had to be taken off on a stretcher in the early stages of Liverpool’s Champions League match at Napoli.

The midfielder went down off the ball just 19 minutes and immediately appeared to be in distress, seeming to indicate a problem with his back.

After receiving treatment on the pitch, Keita was eased on to a stretcher and then driven off on the back of a buggy, with Jordan Henderson taking the 23-year-old’s place.

It is a disappointing blow for Keita, who is yet to make much of an impact following his big move from RB Leipzig.

Bayern Munich slipped to a shock first loss of the season away at Hertha Berlin on Friday, but Niko Kovac is remaining calm.

Niko Kovac insists there is no reason to panic after Hertha Berlin inflicted the first defeat of his Bayern Munich tenure on Friday.

Vedad Ibisevic’s penalty and a close-range finish from the influential Ondrej Duda condemned the champions to a 2-0 loss following a second underwhelming performance in succession.

They had been held to a surprise 1-1 draw at home against Augsburg in midweek and Bayern are now at risk of surrendering top spot in the Bundesliga.

Kovac was frustrated with his side’s generosity in both penalty areas – Jerome Boateng having conceded an unecessary foul to set up Ibisevic’s over – but saw little reason for alarm.

“Not only did we not take our chances but we conceded two avoidable goals. That must not happen,” the Bayern boss told reporters.

“For the second goal we made a tactical mistake. Mistakes happen, but if you make them in the Bundesliga you will be punished.

“I thought we played a decent game overall, but the result makes it difficult to justify that. We combined well and controlled the game but we just didn’t take our chances.

“[Losing] is not a problem at all. Those who know Bayern know we will not put up with it easily.”

The result ended a run of 14 league meetings without a win for Hertha against Bayern.

Head coach Pal Dardai felt the victory was richly deserved, as they moved level with their opponents on 13 points at the summit.

“We are very pleased with our victory and the performance,” he said. “In the first half played well and passed the ball around and scored at the right times.

“In the second half we really fought for the victory and we gave everything. We earned the three points today. It’s a great day for us.”

Spurs could have their first-choice goalkeeper back for Champions League duty on Wednesday but will be without five first-team regulars at Wembley

Serge Aurier, Mousa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen will join Dele Alli in missing Tottenham’s Champions League clash with Barcelona, but Hugo Lloris will start on Wednesday.

Alli missed the Premier League win over Huddersfield Town at the weekend with a hamstring injury, with Mauricio Pochettino confirming after the 2-0 victory that the midfielder would not be ready to face Barcelona in midweek.

However, Spurs have now confirmed the England international will not play again before the international break, meaning he will also sit out Saturday’s league game with Cardiff City.

Defenders Aurier and Vertonghen, as well as midfield duo Dembele and Eriksen, have also been ruled out of the club’s next two fixtures, leaving Pochettino light on options.

Still, the Spurs boss is boosted by the return of goalkeeper Lloris for the Group B fixture in Europe, with the France international available for selection after returning to training.

Lloris has not featured since the 3-0 Premier League win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on August 27 due to a thigh problem.

The World Cup winner missed his side’s Champions League opener, as they let slip a one-goal advantage in the closing stages to lose 2-1 to Inter in Milan.

Fellow keeper Michel Vorm, meanwhile, is expected to be back in training before the end of the week as he continues to recover from a knee injury.

Pochettino has said of the selection issues he faces: “We have players with different injuries – it’s not a pattern that happens from something specific.

“We are not victims though – we must feel strong. Every player must feel they can win and achieve what we want.”

The defender hopes his side can bounce back from their defeat to Lyon and believes they win be successful in Europe this season

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany believes his side can win the Champions League this season, but has called for focus ahead of their clash with Hoffenheim on Tuesday night.

Despite being named as favourites before the tournament by many bookmakers, City lost their opening game of the group against Lyon two weeks ago.

Therefore, Kompany, who is involved in his eighth Champions League campaign at the Etihad, knows it is vital that City pick up three points against Hoffenheim.

Speaking in Monday’s pre-match press conference , the Belgian claimed a win in Germany could be a momentum-building result.

“We’ll worry about Hoffenheim first and, if we get momentum, anything is possible,” he said.

“We have to deal with the fact we lost against Lyon, never mind winning the Champions League. If we get momentum then anything is possible. 

“All I know is that it’s the last step that we haven’t achieved yet. The club is always aiming to progress. There is nothing left to achieve, but it takes time.

“I don’t want to put pressure on the manager here, for the next few years, but we will see and do our best.”

City are aiming to improve on last season’s campaign, when they were eliminated by Liverpool 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

Kompany played in the first-leg defeat to Liverpool and said his side have put last season out of their heads, and are fully focused on their current European adventure.

“Every single year that you lose you just have to start again, but we don’t want to think about the past – we just have to play at our level. You can’t ask for much more than that.

“I’d love to win a European trophy with City, but I’m being realistic, it’s such a tough competition to win. 

“It’s okay to say we want to win it but there are seven or eight other teams thinking the same. They have just as big claim – if not a bigger claim – than us.”

City play Hoffenheim on Tuesday, before their mammoth Premier League fixture against Liverpool on Sunday, which could prove to be a pivotal clash in the title race.