Jamie Carragher believes Curtis Jones’ man-of-the-match performance in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea proves the club do not need to pursue a January move for Martin Zubimendi.
Jones repaid Arne Slot’s faith after being handed his second successive start in the Premier League, scoring what proved to be the winner in an exceptional all-round performance at the heart of Liverpool’s midfield.
Mohamed Salah had earlier scored from the penalty spot to give Liverpool a slender lead at the halfway stage at Anfield, before Nicolas Jackson equalised within moments of the restart.
Jones was heavily involved throughout the drama and the midfielder’s unbridled joy was written all over his face as he produced a fine touch and finish to score his first top-flight goal since New Year’s Day.
The 23-year-old also won the foul for Salah’s first-half spot-kick and was taken out by Robert Sanchez for another penalty in the 47th minute, only for VAR to overturn the decision.
‘He was brilliant, he was outstanding. He’s still at that stage where he’s still not ever really made himself first-choice where he knows he’s playing,’ ex-Liverpool and England defender Carragher said of Jones’ display.
‘You’ve got Gravenberch and Mac Allister who are outstanding so it’s going to be tough for him but what a performance that was.
‘You think of the quality on that pitch and you think of the money that’s been spent on the pitch and for a local lad to put in a performance like that was outstanding.’
The Merseyside giants are reportedly eyeing a January move for Zubimendi after missing out on the Real Sociedad midfielder in the summer transfer window.
However, Carragher feels Liverpool may think twice about reviving their interest in the Spaniard after Jones’ performance against Chelsea.
‘He’s got to keep playing like that, at the highest level,’ Carragher added.
‘He’s up against two top players in there but he’s going to get plenty of games as Liverpool will play 50 to 60 games every season.
‘I keep thinking in the back of my head, “Will Arne Slot go back in for Zubimendi in January?”, and when you see performances like that you’re thinking: “No”.
‘Over the last few weeks I’ve thought maybe Liverpool could still do with a midfielder but when you’ve got someone like Curtis Jones and you’ve got those three battling for those positions, that’s great quality.’
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Liverpool boss Slot credited Jones with ‘controlling’ Cole Palmer after the England international had one of his quieter games for Chelsea.
‘He was very good. Very good individual performance. I think the whole team worked very hard,’ the Liverpool head coach added.
‘Curtis had a difficult job, he had to control Cole Palmer, which is not easy because this player has some quality.’
On his team managing to keep Palmer quiet, the Dutchman added: ‘It’s a team effort but Curtis was mostly responsible for that.
‘He did that really well and he added some really important moments to it.
‘He was two times involved in penalties and score the goal so he was, in both parts of the pitch, very important for us.’
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