James Pearce has praised one Liverpool player for making the most of the opportunity given to them by Arne Slot this afternoon.
Curtis Jones was one of four Reds to come into the starting line-up from the midweek win over Bologna, and the 23-year-old helped his team to a hard-fought victory away to Crystal Palace today.
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In his post-match reflections, The Athletic journalist gave a shoutout to our number 17 on his first Premier League start since the Merseyside derby defeat nearly six months ago.
Pearce posted on X: “Credit to Curtis Jones too. First PL start since April and grasped his chance. He’s well suited to that No 10 role.”
Credit to Curtis Jones too. First PL start since April and grasped his chance. He’s well suited to that No 10 role.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) October 5, 2024
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Some Liverpool fans may have been surprised to see Jones coming into the team in place of Dominik Szoboszlai today, given that Slot had largely eschewed rotating his line-up prior to this fixture.
However, as Pearce says, the Toxteth native made a strong case for keeping his place in the side for Chelsea’s visit to Anfield in 15 days’ time.
As per Sofascore, the 23-year-old misplaced just one of his 47 passes (98%), won six duels, completed 100% of his dribbles, made two clearances and one tackle, played two key passes and lost the ball just twice from 58 touches all afternoon.
Jones will probably have hoped that Liverpool’s next match would come around sooner, given that he’s not in the England squad for the international break, although that breather will enable him to remain on Merseyside and get in some valuable training to keep him in shape for the subsequent glut of fixtures.
More performances like his one at Selhurst Park today should certainly help to make his case to Slot for further starts.
