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Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League table on Sunday with a narrow 2-1 win over Chelsea.
The Reds had been shunted back into second place earlier in the day, after Manchester City earned a last-gasp win over Wolves.
But the Reds knew that three points at Anfield against Chelsea would see them come back to the summit once again.
It was not a straightforward game for Liverpool, with the Blues travelling to Merseyside in sparkling form themselves.
During their good form under Enzo Maresca, Cole Palmer has stood out as the main man in a resurgent Chelsea team. The 22-year-old would be the man to keep quiet at Anfield.
Thankfully, Liverpool managed to do just that, the prolific Palmer coming away without a goal or assist to his name. And after the match, former Reds striker Daniel Sturridge credited one Liverpool player for leading the charge in that respect.
Liverpool's Curtis Jones battles with Chelsea's Cole Palmer during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC at Anfield on October
Curtis Jones wins Cole Palmer battle
Palmer came into the game having won the Premier League player of the month award for September.
The England international is the man of the moment having recently plundered four goals in one game against Brighton last month.
There are other Chelsea players looking dangerous right now, but it was doubtless that Palmer was the man Liverpool would have to stop.
However, the former Man City youngster failed to spark at Anfield. And according to Sturridge, that was largely down to the excellent work done by Curtis Jones in the Reds midfield.
“He kept Cole Palmer quiet today,” the 35-year-old raved to Sky Sports after the game.
“We gave Cole the talk today, but you see Cutis today, playing on that side of the pitch, came away with a goal. Top, top class.”
Gary Neville also praised Jones, naming the 23-year-old as Liverpool’s best player ‘by an absolute mile’ against Chelsea.
Arne Slot confirms Curtis Jones role
Jones really did a number on Palmer during Liverpool’s win over Chelsea on Sunday.
Following Sturridge’s comments immediately post game, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot also told Sky Sports that it was indeed Curtis’ job to stem the ‘quality’ of Palmer.
“Very good. Very good,” said Slot when asked about Jones’ performance. “Very good individual performance.
“I think the whole team worked very, very hard. Curtis had a difficult job. He had to control Cole Palmer, which is not easy because this player has some quality. It’s a team effort, but Curtis was mostly responsible for this.”
Jones clearly took his role seriously and completely nullified one of the Premier League’s truly form players.
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