Forget Salah & Mane: Rarely-seen LFC monster who won 10 duels surely had Klopp purring - opinion

Liverpool ran riot against Leeds United in the Premier League on Wednesday night as they ramped up the pressure on current leaders Manchester City.

Jurgen Klopp’s side blew away the Whites 6-0 at Anfield, with a comprehensively clinical performance, seeing both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane net twice, and centre-backs Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk also getting in on the goal-scoring action themselves.

While Salah and Mane will once again take much of the headlines, and rightly so, one man who surely had Klopp nodding in approval was Curtis Jones.

The 21-year-old has had an injury-disrupted campaign at Anfield this season, making just ten appearances in the Premier League, and that only amounting to 638 minutes of football in the competition.

Wednesday night’s return to the starting line-up was his first appearance since playing against Leicester right at the beginning of this month, and while he hardly set the world alight with his display against Leeds, he certainly showed why he could be a really valuable member of this squad heading into these final few months of the season.

As per Sofascore, he won ten of his 12 duels on the night which was the joint-most of any player on the pitch alongside Luis Diaz, and his tenacity to press high and force Leeds into mistakes led to a number of good opportunities for the hosts.

He completed every single one of his seven attempted dribbles – again the most of any player and by far the best success rate – provided one key pass, and drew three fouls too as his quick feet and ability to beat Leeds’ press shone through.

And, writing in her player ratings for This is Anfield, Joanna Durkan gave Jones a seven, saying: “Understandably rusty and did keep hold of the ball for too long at