Liverpool’s midfield has been a big factor in the Reds sitting top of the Premier League table with 10 games to go.
It looks for all the world as though Arne Slot is heading towards picking up Liverpool’s 20th league title in May.
When all is said and done and this season is looked back upon, the midfield trio most associated with this Liverpool team will likely be Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Those three players were all signed during the 2023 summer transfer window, with fans having instead been hoping to sign Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid.
But as well as the three regular starters, Curtis Jones has made a big impact on Slot’s Liverpool.
And as seen on the new documentary chronicling Jurgen Klopp’s final months with the Reds, Pep Lijnders made a claim about Bellingham, Jones and Declan Rice which is now starting to look like a good one.
Curtis Jones justifies ‘complete’ claim from Pep Lijnders
Jones has not always been a starter this season. But if Liverpool do go on to lift the Premier League, he can still claim to have played a big part in the success.
Featuring in 23 of the Reds 28 league fixtures, starting 12, the 24-year-old has scored three and assisted three.
Although he’s mostly played as one of the two deeper midfielders, Jones has also cropped up in the number 10 position as well.
Jones played wide left during the draw with Aston Villa recently and followed that up with a display as a defacto false nine against Manchester City.
These successful changes in position back up a claim Lijnders has been seen making during Amazon Prime’s ‘Doubters to Believers’ documentary.
“Most complete midfield: Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, Curtis Jones,” says the former Liverpool assistant manager before settling back into his chair with a smile.
| Apperances | Goals | Assists | |
| Curtis Jones 2024/25 | 33 | 3 | 6 |
Jones has the numbers to back it up
It isn’t only Jones’ changes in position which suggest Lijnders was right to slap a ‘complete’ tag on him.
As per Who Scored, the Liverpool academy graduate has the best final third pass success rate of any midfielder in the Premier League with 200 or more attempts.
Jones has made 90.7% of the passes he has attempted to teammates in attacking positions of the pitch.
Given he is usually operating in a slightly more defensively-minded midfield role, that is an impressive statistic.
He may not have nailed down his position in Slot’s starting XI just yet – and he’s certainly no Bellingham – but the signs have been there in abundance this season that Lijnders was right to back Curtis so boldly.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
