Steven Gerrard regen gives Arne Slot ENORMOUS selection headache | OneFootball

Liverpool have finally managed to get a number of players firing on all cylinders and Arne Slot is set to be faced with an almighty selection headache if the players' performance efforts carry on.

Five games the Reds are now unbeaten in, which is an extraordinary turnaround from the nine losses in 12 games streak. Things are starting to look up, even though there's still a lot of progress to make.

Temporarily at least, on Saturday afternoon the team rose to sixth in the Premier League, just seven points off Arsenal before they played Wolves and two points off Chelsea who reside in the top four.

One of the main reasons behind the Reds' return to form has been a midfield star who is often overlooked by the manager, except his recent performances have made him look undroppable.

Jones - Liverpool's Gerrard regen

According to Michael Reid on X, homegrown star Curtis Jones is the youngest midfielder to reach 200 appearances for Liverpool since club-legend Steven Gerrard back in September 2003. The scouser is quite literally following in one of his hero's footsteps. It's remarkable to watch it unfold.

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Of course, his performance levels are going to need to reach astronomic levels before we can seriously start comparing the 24-year-old with Gerrard, but he's certainly a regenerative version.

Beyond the historic appearance record, we have seen Jones prove to be a massive difference-maker on the pitch for the Reds recently, and his vein of form over the few months has been impressive.

For example, against Brighton he got 96 touches on the ball, made three long-balls, four successful dribbles, a tackle, an interception, two clearances, two recoveries and won eight of his twelve duels.

This level of performance in a Red shirt has become Jones' standard and leading to him starting in the last three games. In the double-pivot with Ryan Gravenberch, there are few better partners.

In an attempt to sure up the defence and make Liverpool a harder team to break down, Slot has opted to use as many midfielders as possible. Alongside Jones and Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz also played, meaning it was just Wataru Endo who missed out.

That system is not going to be sustainable, especially since Endo wasn't even available off the bench because of his injury. There weren't any senior midfielders available to come on as a substitute. As such, someone will have to miss out, and Jones' compelling case makes it difficult to drop him.

Mac Allister is his direct rival, since Szoboszlai and Wirtz can each play as one of the wingers or in the attacking midfield role, and at it currently looks as though the Argentine will lose out, which is surprising for the simple fact that he was an integral part of last season's title-winning midfield.

But when you've got someone coming into their own, just like Gerrard did, you're left with no choice.