Arne Slot lays down gauntlet to Curtis Jones as Liverpool eyes another title boost

Arne Slot has challengedto maintain his recent form for a prolonged period as Liverpool looks to strengthen its hold on the top of the Premier League.

The Reds sit two points ahead of at the summit following last weekend's victory over Brighton. It was the perfect weekend with City and both losing, at Bournemouth and Newcastle respectively.

Liverpool followed that up by sweeping Bayer Leverkusen aside in the Champions League in midweek, with Jones playing a fine through ball for Luis Diaz to open the scoring. It continued an excellent run of form for the midfielder,

Lee Carsley and Slot has been impressed with the 23-year-old. The Liverpool boss even suggested the birth of Jones' daughter Giselle last month has inspired the level of performance.

Speaking ahead of the visit of Aston Villa, Slot said: "With Curtis, maybe it was not me that did it. He became a father and I had nothing to do with that!

"Since the moment he became a father, he's put in great performances. He also did it in the first few weeks we worked together and then his performances dropped a bit. Recently he's been outstanding again.

"He has a lot of qualities on the ball. He's never afraid to do something special with it. Sometimes that led to situations where he touched the ball a bit too much as he was a bit over confident.

“But he combines that confidence with a hard work rate. You can trust him in defense as well. He's quite complete. Now for him it's all about consistency. The best players in the world show up every three days. That's what he has to show now."

Liverpool will again be without Diogo Jota after he picked up an injury against Chelsea, with the forward not expected back for at least another three weeks. Villa has injury issues of its own to contend with, with Youri Tielemans among several doubts for the trip to Anfield.