Curtis Jones was an integral part of Liverpool’s win away at Inter Milan on Tuesday evening, staking a strong claim to start for Arne Slot’s side going forward.
Jones faces stiff competition for a place in the Reds’ engine room, competing with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai alongside £115M summer recruit Florian Wirtz.
One thing Jones excels at is that he has a level of composure and accuracy when passing that is matched by very few in the Premier League.
The Englishman ranks fifth in the division for accurate passes per 90 and is the only midfielder on a list dominated by central defenders. He also has the second-highest pass success rate, completing 93% of his passes.
Liverpool’s struggles this season stem largely from losing the ball too frequently in their defensive third, alongside opponents being ruthless against the Reds, scoring 24 times despite Liverpool only giving up 16.2 goals against.
Jones brings stability to Slot’s side, with the team retaining more possession and committing fewer turnovers when he plays.
Starting Jones could help address these issues, shoring up the midfield and reducing the turnovers that have been so costly this season.
Across the previous three seasons, Liverpool’s average possession has been consistently higher with Jones in the starting line-up, with the gap between with and without him increasing year on year.
With this being a constant theme across three seasons and two different managers, it illustrates Jones’ ability to be a key enabler of a possession-based system and help Liverpool out of this slump.
Although a versatile player, Jones has found a deeper midfield role to be his most suitable under Arne Slot, maximising his strengths and limiting his flaws.
Considering this, his main competitor for that role is Alexis Mac Allister, who had an excellent 2024/25 campaign but has struggled to hit those heights again this season.
The Argentine has often been praised for his tenacity and defensive ability during his time at Liverpool, despite his physical limitations; however, looking at the numbers from this season, it’s Jones who excels in these metrics.
Jones is a significantly better tackler, as he attempts more challenges than Liverpool’s number 10 and wins them at almost twice the rate, with 1.48 for the English International compared to Mac Allister’s 0.78.
He is also more effective in the defensive third, which is where he is deployed in Slot’s system, and his strengths and weaknesses pair better with midfield stalwart Gravenberch than Mac Allister’s
