Liverpool new boy Roberto Firmino says that he signed for the Reds in order to challenge for major honours, and has already targeted Champions League qualification with his new club this season.

The Brazil midfielder joined Liverpool in July for initial fee of £21.3m from German club Hoffenheim, where he scored 49 goals from 153 games as an attacking midfielder.

Firmino has featured in all of Liverpool's first four games this season, yet he hasn't registered a single goal or a assist so far. The closest he has come was striking the post from 30-yards out in Liverpool's recent 3-0 defeat to West Ham.

"I had a dream about playing in England," he told the official Liverpool FC magazine.

"[I want to] fight for titles and play in the Champions League. So moving here really is a dream come true."

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However, is it just a dream, or can it actually be a reality for Liverpool? At this stage it is difficult to make judgements that are fully accurate. Liverpool are good, but quite simply don't really look good enough to challenge and defeat the very best there is to offer.

Their four Premier League games so far have yielded seven points, though it perhaps could have been more as Brendan Rodgers' men were by far the better side in their 0-0 draw against Arsenal. Nevertheless, the seven points represents a decent start for the Reds.

You would say it is a good enough tally without being overly spectacular. However, from the first four games it looks like Liverpool (putting the West Ham game aside) will have more of an emphasis on keeping clean sheets and being tougher to break down, rather than the attacking approach Rodgers has preferred his side to play in the past Three clean sheets four games is testament to that.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the goals haven't exactly been flying in at the other end of the pitch either, with just two goals in four games and zero goals scored in their last two outings. Liverpool, even with the introduction of the likes of Christian Benteke and Firmino in attack, look far more toothless than they ever have under Rodgers before.

Perhaps it is the change in approach from the Northern Irishman, but grinding out 1-0 wins doesn't come quite as naturally to Rodgers as it does to Jose Mourinho, for example, and the Merseysider's could struggle as a result.

Benteke and Firmino will need some time to find their feet at Anfield, but even when they eventually do I don't see the goals flowing as freely as they used to. Without Raheem Sterling there is a real lack of pace in the Reds' attack, which is often pivotal to breaching backlines in the Premier League.

There will be an over reliance on Philippe Coutinho to dig Rodgers' side out of trouble, which is a lot of pressure on the Brazilian. He might embracer that kind of pressure, but it will ultimately be too much for him to get Liverpool back amongst the big boys.

The same could be levelled at the Reds this season - it will be too much to get into the top four and challenge for title's like Firmino dreams of.

At the moment it looks as though it will remain an unfulfilled dream.

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