Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor admits that he has been proved wrong over the qualities of a Liverpool midfielder who has really 'turned up' since Arne Slot's arrival at Anfield.

Liverpool's victory over Chelsea on Sunday took them back to the top of the Premier League table after an absorbing contest on Merseyside, with Agbonlahor picking out Curtis Jones for special praise.

Slot has made a stunning start to life at Liverpool, with 10 wins from his opening 11 games in all competitions, in what would have been a daunting prospect replacing the legendary Jurgen Klopp.

The Dutchman is being aided by his players adapting superbly to a different style of play and one of those has been Jones, who appears to be thriving under the new Reds chief.

And Agbonlahor admits he is now watching a different player, having been hugely impressed with Jones against Chelsea after he won the penalty from which Mo Salah opened the scoring before the Liverpool midfielder notched what turned out to be the winner.

Speaking on TalkSPORT and giving his latest team of the week, Agbonlahor admitted that he'd been critical of Jones in the past. However, under Slot, he sees a new player.

"For me, I have been critical of Curtis Jones in his Liverpool career, but this season, I don't know why under Arne Slot, he has turned up," Agbonlahor said. "He's doing what he should be doing. He's making runs into the box, he's getting on the ball, he's driving, he's making some nice touches, and against Chelsea, maybe he should have got two penalties, won the penalty for Salah and he took his goal well.

"That's what you want to see from midfielders. Make that third-man run, and that's what he does for his goal. Great finish and I think Curtis Jones was the Man of the Match for the game against Chelsea."

Slot raves over Jones as Carragher doubts need for Zubimendi Jones was also lauded for the role he played in keeping Chelsea dangerman Cole Palmer quiet for the majority of the match, with boss Slot adding: "He was very good. Very good individual performance. I think the whole team worked very hard

"Curtis had a difficult job, he had to control Cole Palmer, which is not easy because this player has some quality.

"He did that really well and he added some really important moments to it.

"He was two times involved in penalties and score the goal so he was, in both parts of the pitch, very important for us."

Reds legend Jamie Carragher even feels that his old club may now decide against a winter window move for a top Real Sociedad midfielder after Jones' performances this season.

He added: "I wonder if Arne Slot is going to go back in for [Martin] Zubimendi in January. But when you see how he played today you think 'no'."

Latest Liverpool transfer news: Slot eyeing Porto striker / Barca now pushing for Trent deal Arne Slot is reported to have instructed scouts to keep a close watch on in-form FC Porto striker Samu Omorodion with the possibility of a huge move to sign the forward in 2025 beginning to take shape, amid claims the Reds want to find an upgrade for a Jurgen Klopp signing who appears to have fallen down the pecking order.

Meanwhile, Liverpool face a big new threat towards keeping Trent Alexander-Arnold with Barcelona putting together a plan to beat Real Madrid to his signing and with Arne Slot targeting a France star as his replacement, per bold new reports in the Spanish media.

Finally, Mo Salah wants a 'massive' new three-year contract in order to re-sign at Liverpool, a fresh report has claimed.

IN FOCUS - Jones dominates Chelsea

Curtis Jones stats v Chelsea