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Curtis Jones is outshining Jude Bellingham and Martin Odegaard in one key area

talksport.com, 25 November 2024, 22:26
Curtis Jones currently tops an important midfield metric thanks to an impressive season with Liverpool thus far.

The Reds academy graduate has been a standout performer for the club despite only starting in five of their 12 Premier League matches.

Jones was particularly impressive in Liverpool's 2-1 win against Chelsea as he won a penalty for the first goal and netted the second himself.

Despite such strong competition for midfield at the club, the 23-year-old has demonstrated his quality during his 14 season appearances.

He was even rewarded with his England debut in their 3-0 Nations League win against Greece in which he scored their final goal.

Jones' expertise has now been highlighted by football statistics site WhoScored.com in their pass succes rate data.

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The Liverpool man has completed 94.8 per cent of his passes this season and ranks sixth out of all players in Europe's top five leagues.

Juventus defender Federico Gatti leads with 95.6 per cent, but it's Jones who tops the standings for all midfielders.

This is more than Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham, who has a pass success rate of 90.1 per cent.

Respective Chelsea and Arsenal stars Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice have both scored 89 per cent so far this season.

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Arsenal general Martin Odegaard's score is even lower than this as the Norwegian sits on 85.9 per cent.

Even Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes has less with 81.5 per cent as Jones excels amongst Europe's midfield elite.

After his England call-up earlier in the month, he was lauded by his Liverpool boss Arne Slot who even claimed he is 'complete'.

"He has a lot of qualities on the ball," said the Dutchman via the BBC.

"He is never afraid to do something special with it, but sometimes he touches the ball a bit too much in my opinion because he is so confident.

"But confidence is an important tool. He has an incredibly hard work rate and we trust him in defence. He is complete.

"For him now, it is all about consistency. The best players turn up every three days and that is what he has got to show."

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard recently said that whilst Jones is still a young player, he could become one of the best in the business.

"Rafa [Benitez] had to grab me to take me to another level, and the exciting thing for me looking in is that Arne seems the man who can really get Curtis to the next level," he said.

"If he [Slot] can get him there we will have a top, top international player on our hands. I am really excited to see his next 18 months and beyond."

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