100% pass completion, lost the ball just twice – Liverpool starter justified Slot’s faith v Wolves
One Liverpool starter will feel that he very much justified his selection by Arne Slot in the Reds’ FA Cup victory over Wolves on Friday night.
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Despite being held culpable by Stephen Warnock over a mistake which led to Andre Trindade’s winning goal at Molineux three days previously, Curtis Jones was brought into the starting XI for the cup clash in the Black Country.
He repaid his head coach’s faith by registering the assist for Andy Robertson’s 51st-minute opener and later scoring his team’s third goal with a sweet strike from just outside the penalty area, duly doubling his G/A tally for the season in one night.
Curtis Jones match statistics v Wolves
The statistics from Jones’ 90-minute outing against Wolves on Friday make for very impressive reading.
As per Sofascore, he completed every one of his 51 passes at Molineux and lost the ball only twice from his 60 touches, along with posting a 100% dribble success rate and playing one key pass. He also posted some strong numbers out of possession, winning four of his five duels and making two tackles.
Ian Doyle awarded the midfielder 7/10 in his post-match player rating for the Liverpool Echo, with the view that the 25-year-old was ‘not probing enough’ in the first half but ‘improved’ thereafter and helped himself to a ‘very well-taken goal’.
Will Jones start for Liverpool in Istanbul on Tuesday?
It’s been another season in which Jones has been in and out of the Reds’ starting XI, being picked just 15 times across 33 Premier League and Champions League games for which he’s been available, but he did his chances of selection for the Galatasaray showdown on Tuesday no harm with his performance last night.
Following speculation over a potential exit from Anfield during the January transfer window, Slot said that it would’ve been a ‘strange’ decision by the club had they sanctioned a departure for the midfielder, whose current contract has less than 18 months remaining.
It’d be entirely understandable if the Scouser would crave being a fixed starter at this stage of his career, and he’s proven his value to the squad this term by deputising at right-back on occasion when our options in that role have been decimated by injury.
Jones may privately feel confident of starting in Istanbul on Tuesday off the back of his impressive outing at Molineux last night.
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