Steven Gerrard has reflected on Chelsea's 2-0 win over Manchester United and the former Liverpool captain has issued his old teammate Xabi Alonso a warning ahead of a future problem

Steven Gerrard has waxed lyrical about Chelsea winger Estevao Willian and believes he will cause Xabi Alonso a "problem" in the near future.

Estevao made his first Premier League start of the season on Saturday afternoon, with the winger flourishing in the Blues' 2-0 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. The 19-year-old proved a nuisance to the away side's defence throughout his 87 minutes on the pitch and would have been frustrated not to get himself on the scoresheet - especially after netting two disallowed goals.

The Brazilian ended the match with six attempted shots - the joint-most from a Chelsea player in a single game this season. Alonso was delighted with Estevao's display in SW6 and described it as the "best response" following a frustrating start to the campaign.

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Gerrard shared a similar view to his former Liverpool teammate Alonso and also thinks Estevao's ability could give the Chelsea manager a big headache in the future. Once Joao Pedro returns from his thigh injury, it will be much more difficult for Alonso to get Estevao into the attack, with the likes of Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers all vying for a spot as well.

Speaking on the Overlap Daily about Estevao and his performance against United, Gerrard said: "He's exciting. He's great to watch. Your typical Brazilian, where it's about flair, it's about quality, but I really like that he's very direct. I like that he's hungry to get shots off.

"If there's a little criticism of some of the players for Liverpool in the attacking areas, I would say they don't shoot enough. They're looking for maybe that extra pass or that little bit of perfection, whereas what I like about Estevao is, certainly the one when he came in off the left, a little combination play and he whips that, and it's a fantastic save from the United keeper.

"But I like the way he's hungry to get shots off. And there was an opportunity in the first half where he could have slowed the game down a bit more and looked to pull it back to the edge of the box, but he wanted to be that little bit hungry to go and get himself a goal.

"So, he's desperate to impress the manager. And he's going to give Xabi a problem when Joao Pedro comes back, because Pedro Neto's a great player as well, but five doesn't go into that front four, so it's going to be interesting.

"But he's done himself no harm at all in terms of his own individual performance, Estevao."

Over the first couple of months of the season, there has been speculation over the future of Estevao. Going into Saturday's game, the teenager was without a start in the league this term and had recorded less than 50 minutes of game time.

Alonso, though, remained consistent when asked about Estevao, saying that the season is long and the Brazil international will eventually get his opportunity to impress. Estevao seized his opportunity at the weekend and will be hoping to be named in the starting XI when Chelsea make the mammoth trip up to Sunderland later this week.

Joao Pedro is set to be ruled out of the clash at the Stadium of Light as he continues rehabilitation work for his thigh injury. Meanwhile, Palmer and Rogers seem to be the first names on Alonso's team sheet. The pair have started every single league game to date this season.

Neto is up there as well in that regard. The Portugal international has started every Premier League fixture bar the opening weekend win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.