There were several uncharacteristic decisions from Jones, who turned the ball away too cheaply, while his backpass to Alisson almost allowed Erling Haaland to profit. After a harsh red card against Spurs and injury delayed his return, the midweek clash coming up against LASK is the perfect opportunity for him to get back to his best.
After the defeat in Toulouse, Liverpool isn’t currently guaranteed to qualify from the group stage as winners. The Reds hold a two-point lead over the French side, but with a home clash against the side ranked bottom in the group, a win is expected this time around. And Liverpool should be able to do that while resting some key stars. Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai are two who should be allowed time off on Thursday, not least to hand some minutes to some who have waited patiently for their chance this season.
Harvey Elliott is among those who will be hopeful of starting, and it would make sense for him to feature alongside his former academy teammate Jones. The pair have both proven that they have a role to play in Jürgen Klopp’s new project and despite some of the uproar on social media, Jones would benefit from more minutes to help get back into rhythm.
It is one of the issues of modern football at times, where the loud minority are quick to forget previous displays after one bad performance, and Jones seemed to accept that it was part of the game at a previous pre-conference. “I couldn’t care to be honest. I just know it is part of the game. You have a good game, everyone says he is this, he is that, he is next this. If you have a bad game, the fans are going to have the other side,” he said (as per Neil Jones) ahead of the clash at Anfield with Toulouse, while also touching upon the importance of playing regularly.
A solid display against Chelsea last season saw Curtis Jones begin a journey that led him to become an established starter in Liverpool’s first team. It has been no different in the current campaign, with a number of bright performances across all competitions, but he may need time to recapture rhythm after a disappointing display against Manchester City.
