Chelsea can't keep up with Jones' incredible dynamism

When Arne Slot had suggested Chelsea were potential champions, it posed the question of whether they could keep up with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

- RICHARD JOLLY

It soon transpired they could not keep up with the Joneses.

Or not Curtis Jones, anyway. Winners are not always scored by the best player on the pitch but, in a match that could shape two clubs’ seasons, this one was. Jones’ display of extraordinary dynamism restored Liverpool to the top of the table. It meant that Chelsea, already beaten by Manchester City, have failed their two biggest tests of the season so far. Liverpool, now seven points clear of them, have passed their toughest.

They did so courtesy of a couple of very different indictments of Chelsea’s transfer business. Many a charge can be levelled at Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, but it was a previous Chelsea regime which let Mohamed Salah leave. With a goal and an assist, he gave them added reasons to regret a past mistake. If Jones is precisely the kind of player the modern-day Chelsea would sell, Liverpool do not need to dispense with homegrown talents for pure profit. Jones joined them at nine. At 23, he had one of his finest afternoons in a red shirt.

Chelsea’s encouraging start under Enzo Maresca has meant there have been fewer references to their spending but they fielded central midfielders who cost some £280m. Two of them, Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo, attracted big bids from Liverpool in 2023 and the Ecuadorian, in his defence, created a goal with a defence-splitting pass.