Arne Slot states why he has really changed his mind about Curtis Jones since first taking Liverpool job

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Arne Slot has endured a stunning start to life at Liverpool and has won 14 of his first 16 games in charge of the club in all competitions.

The Reds’ 4-0 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen meant they find themselves at the top of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League standings, which is no mean feat for a manager who is just a few months old at Anfield.

Luis Diaz stole the show with a second-half hat-trick – the first of his Liverpool career – against the reigning Bundesliga champions.

But Arne Slot has singled out a Liverpool midfielder for special praise after one of his best performances of the season.

Arne Slot says he initially played Curtis Jones out of position at Liverpool

Curtis Jones started in midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch and produced a fantastic assist for Diaz to break the deadlock.

The English midfielder has continued to grow in stature in recent weeks and more than justified his selection over Dominik Szoboszlai, who came on as a second-half substitute.

Slot believes Jones has improved in recent weeks and is capable of playing anywhere in the centre of the park, although he admitted that he mis-profiled him when he first took over the reigns at Liverpool.

“I still learn on a daily basis about every player and Curtis is one of them,” said Slot at a press conference after the game.

“When I started off, the first game I played him as a six, which you didn’t see because it was behind closed doors [against Preston], but that wasn’t his best game – from us but from him as well.

“It’s one of his qualities that at this moment he can play in every position because he’s in a very good place at the moment. So comfortable on the ball, so you can trust him closer to your defence.

“But like we saw against Chelsea and I saw today as well, he is also able to penetrate inside the 18-yard box and give the last pass.

“He’s really made a step up after pre-season and that’s why he gets his chances now because if players do well – and I have quite a lot of them at the moment – they will get their chances.”

Neil Mellor described Jones’ performance against Chelsea as magnificent as he won a penalty that Mohamed Salah converted and scored the winning goal from close range in the second half.

Jones’ stats vs Leverkusen

Jones was subbed off with 20 minutes left on the clock for Szoboszlai and left the pitch to a standing ovation from the Anfield crowd.

His underlying numbers from the game are as follows:

• 51 touches (27/30 accurate passes)
• 4/5 ground duels won
• 3 key passes
• 2/2 dribbles completed
• 1 long ball completed
• 1 cross completed

After his recent performances, he is expected to keep his place in the starting XI as Liverpool host Aston Villa in the Premier League before the international break.