122 passes, 139 touches: 'Accomplished' Liverpool record breaker is Arne Slot's most underrated player

Liverpool finally got back to winning ways on Wednesday after a run of four-straight defeats in all competitions.

The Reds beat Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in their third Champions League outing of the campaign to give them six points from a possible nine. It initially looked like it might be another frustrating night for the Reds.

They dominated the possession early on with most of the play taking place in the Frankfurt half. However, the hosts scored with their first shot as Rasmus Kristensen fired in off the post as Liverpool were too slow to get bodies back. That proved the home team’s only shot on target all night.

Liverpool’s dominance soon told as they scored three times in nine minutes before half time with Hugo Ekitike’s pace catching the Frankfurt defence sleeping while Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate both scored from corners.

Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai added two more goals within four minutes of each other in the second half. Both were assisted by Florian Wirtz.

Curtis Jones shines for Arne Slot and breaks Liverpool record

Liverpool were without Ryan Gravenberch for the game but homegrown midfielder Curtis Jones more then stepped up. Everything went through the England international, who made 122 passes and had 139 touches with 96 per cent pass accuracy.

Defensively, he made two tackles, two recoveries and one clearance. His 122 passes set a Liverpool record too. Opta stats said: “Curtis Jones completed 122 passes tonight, the most ever by a Liverpool player in a UEFA Champions League match Opta has on record (since 2003-04). Accomplished.”

The biggest concern over Gravenberch for Liverpool is that he appears to be the only out-and-out defensive midfielder at the club. However, Jones has now shown he can more than step up when required. He is versatile too and can play in more advanced midfield positions.

The 24-year-old is rarely singled out for praise but his display against Frankfurt show he is Arne Slot’s most underrated player.

What Arne Slot said about Eintracht Frankfurt victory

Reflecting on the much-needed win, Liverpool boss Arne Slot said: “I saw a lot of similarities in the last few weeks, in the last few games we played. I also saw some differences. The similarities were that we already create a few chances before we conceded the first one and the first chance we conceded was usually a goal.

“In the end it turned out to be the only chance we conceded today. Why was that? Because we went 3-1 up and so then it's easier to control the game than when you're 1-0 down all the time. I've said here a few times telling you guys how important set-pieces are, how important the balance at set-pieces is. Now we were able to score two so you go 3-1 up at half-time because you score two set-pieces.

“That is a big, big, big difference and you go in at half-time at 1-1 with still the same amount of chances, but people will judge us definitely differently when you don't score them. The biggest exception for me today compared to the other games we've played was the playing style of our opponent. We got some energy out of the moments we could press them, which in the last four or five games we played we were not able to press the opponent because the ball wasn't on the ground, it was in the air.”