“Back in Brazil everything seemed to progress perfectly for me,” he says. “I played well, scored goals and won titles. Since I moved to Liverpool I’ve had some difficult moments.

“However, I think those experiences can help me. They have made mentally stronger.

“I think I’ll be able to get forward more and believe I can have a good year and help us challenge for the title again.”

That extra attacking license was evident on Wednesday night when an impressive Lucas pushed Glen Johnson for the man-of-the-match award in the 4-0 drubbing of Stoke City at Anfield.

The Brazilian was Liverpool’s best performer during pre-season and one of the few positives to emerge from the opening day defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

“We had a defeat against Spurs so we knew that it was really important that we got three points against Stoke,” says Lucas. “We played a lot better than we did in our first game, keeping the ball and making a lot of chances.

“We knew they would defend a lot and Rafa said to me to play a little bit higher, so that Javier can get the ball and I can get forward more often.

“Playing higher up is the key to beating the smaller teams, who just come to defend.”

Manchester United’s defeat at Burnley on the same night added further weight to the growing belief this could be one of the most keenly-contested Premier League title battles.

And Lucas adds: “I am sure United, Chelsea and Arsenal will be strong at home and we have to be too. It will be interesting to see how Manchester City do.

“It will again be a difficult competition to win but we know we have the quality to do that.”