Liverpool continued their strong start to the season on Sunday by comfortably beating Aston Villa, extending their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 15 matches.
How did Liverpool play against Aston Villa?
Arriving into the fixture without Virgil van Dijk following his red card against Newcastle, supporters were left fearing the worst ahead of this match, however, those fears were soon diminished as Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring inside three minutes.
Following a lightning-fast start, the Reds continued to sweep Villa under the carpet with a Matty Cash own goal proceeding a customary Mohamed Salah strike which saw Liverpool run out as 3-0 winners and surge into third place.
Jurgen Klopp's side assumed control throughout, restricting Villa to limited attempts on goal and nullifying star men Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby with ease, despite the pair contributing to five of the Villain's eight goals so far.
Klopp's side were in cruise control throughout and their dominance was led by an infectious, energetic and dynamic midfield trio of Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Szoboszlai.
That interchangeable trio pressed superbly to win the ball back, utilised possession in a progressive manner and hounded Villa into submission with their energy, helping Liverpool record 91% accurate passes, 14 tackles, eight interceptions and 64% possession, as per Sofascore.
While their performance in the engine room was impressive, they did it without a natural holding midfielder as Wataru Endo was dropped following his display against Newcastle.
The Japan international, who made the £16m switch from Stuttgart this summer, struggled to stamp his authority on proceedings and was hooked after 58 minutes with the 30-year-old still acclimatising to Premier League football.
Despite winning four of his seven duels and registering an 88% pass completion, Endo only made two tackles, had 39 touches and was dispossessed five times, which is statistical evidence of him needing time to adjust to the demands required in Klopp's gegen pressing system.
As a result, £50k per-week "warrior", as dubbed by Bundesliga commentator Kevin Hatchard, should be fearing the worst for his game time moving forward, even more so now with the arrival of Ryan Gravenberch.
After wrapping up a £34m deal from Bayern Munich on deadline day, Liverpool's midfield is now embellished with quality, replacing the long-serving and ageing Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner with young prospects that have hunger and youthfulness on their side.
How good is Ryan Gravenberch?
A product of Ajax's famed youth academy, Gravenberch came through the ranks to become the club's youngest-ever debutant aged 16 and then went on to claim three Eredivisie titles.
He departed Amsterdam having made 103 appearances – including 14 starts in the Champions League – and delivered 25 goal contributions in all competitions.
A move to Bayern Munich saw him unsurprisingly scoop a Bundesliga title, making 33 appearances for the Bavarians last season with the 21-year-old now starting a new chapter in his career.
In the Bundesliga last season, Gravenberch excelled as a box-to-box midfielder, ranking high against his positional peers for metrics that are tailor-made to succeed in a Klopp system with his ability to progress the ball, press ferociously and win possession back shining through.
The technical quality of Gravenberch is backed up by his exquisite passing range, ranking in the top 10% for positionally similar players in leagues most similar to the Dutch top flight for his progressive passes, short and long pass completion, shot-creating actions and passes into the final third, as per FBref.
In possession, he's productive and rarely wasteful, without it, he hounds the opposition into making a mistake, fitting the energetic and dynamic profile required to play in Liverpool's midfield.
He ranks in the top 3% for ball recoveries and top 7% for tackles in the attacking third while his ball-carrying capabilities are exceptional with the Dutchman placing within the top 5% for carries into the final third, touches and top 12% for successful take-ons.
Although Gravenberch isn't the defensive midfielder that Liverpool have been crying out for having missed out on top targets Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea, his boundless amounts of energy and creativity make him the perfect fit for the box-to-box role.
With Liverpool opting to omit a natural six from their system against Villa, an instant impact from Gravenberch in the mould of Szoboszlai could see Endo needing to fight for his place in the starting XI before he's even really had an opportunity to stamp his mark.
