Christian Poulsen feels he has already seen enough of Liverpool to believe they can compete for honours this season.
The Denmark midfielder signed from Juventus earlier this month and made his Reds debut in Thursday's Europa League play-off victory over Trabzonspor at Anfield.
Poulsen is now hoping for his first taste of Barclays Premier League action as Liverpool take on big-spending Manchester City at Eastlands tonight.
After splashing out more than £120million on new players in the summer, City are expecting to break into the top four at the very least this season.
Liverpool slipped out of that elite group last term but Poulsen believes they too are well capable of qualifying for the Champions League.
Poulsen, who watched as the Reds opened their campaign with an encouraging draw against Arsenal, said: "I think we have to have a strong enough squad to compete with the big teams.
"I think we showed last Sunday the team is ready for the Premier League and I hope we can have a win at City.
"I am glad to be here and I look forward to playing with my new colleagues.
"I need to get the rhythm of the teams here at Liverpool but we have a good squad."
