Liverpool returned to the summit of the Premier League table after beating Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday evening, courtesy of a winning goal from Curtis Jones.
The 23-year-old put in a man of the match performance to win a penalty and score the winner in an end-to-end match on Merseyside, and he was singled out for praise afterwards by Jamie Carragher, who went as far as to suggest that Liverpool may not need to turn their attention to Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi in January.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher said: “I keep thinking, ‘will Arne Slot go back in for Zubimendi in January’, but when you see performances like that, you’re thinking ‘no’.
“Maybe Liverpool can still do with a mdifielder, but when you’ve got someone like Curtis Jones and those three battling for two positions, that’s a great quality.
Carragher was full of praise for Jones, with the former Liverpool defender saying that the youngster was “outstanding”, adding that “he’s still at that stage where he doesn’t know for certain if he is first choice, when you have got Gravenberch and Mac Allister. But what a performance that was”.
“When you think of the quality on the pitch and the money that has been spent, for a local lad to put in a performance like that, it’s outstanding,” he added.
“That was almost a throwback to when I started watching football, we’d just call someone a midfield player. Your Bryan Robson’s, Peter Reid for Everton.
“You had to defend, and also get forward. That performance we saw today, he was a little bit of everything.
“I think there was something Liverpool saw – ‘if you get forward, you can cause them real problems’, and that’s what he did.”
When asked what Jones has to do to get a regular role in the side, Carragher replied: “He’s got to keep playing like that. He’s up against two top players in there, but he’s going to get plenty of games. Liverpool play 50, 60 games every season.”
Daniel Sturridge, who briefly played with Jones at Liverpool, added that the youngster has “always had the ability”.
“It was a case of ‘can he bring it all together? Can he develop into a top midfielder?
“He’s gained experience over the years. You look at him now, you can see he’s grown up a lot,” he added.