Ryan Gravenberch is embarrassing EVERYONE with this one

Liverpool’s win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday evening ensured that they remain the only club with a 100% record in the entire competition.

It was another necessary performance that showed the resolve that Arne Slot’s men have cultivated in just a few short months under the Dutch manager, holding over from the Jurgen Klopp era.

Liverpool only have one draw and one loss in 16 games in all competitions. The way Arne Slot has been able to get his system into this set of players this quickly is nothing short of amazing.

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And it has been well established that the rise in Ryan Gravenberch’s performances has been essential to Liverpool playing the way they are.

His abilities in the Premier League have been covered, but with 50% of Champions League group stage games played, it is clear this is translating to his performances in Europe too.

Notably, Gravenberch leads the entire Champions League for possession won, recovering the ball 30 times in the opening four games.

Gravenberch is joined on this number by Bologna’s Dan Ndoye. The majority of those with 20+ recoveries are, understandably, defenders. And out of all established, big-name defensive midfielders in the competition, only Joshua Kimmich comes close with 27.

Is Gravenberch the best defensive midfielder in the world?

We recently argued that Gravenberch is the best defensive midfielder in the world right now with his magnanimous rise in level and the unfortunate injury sustained by Rodri, who would certainly be challenging him for that moniker.

This is simply another notch in favour of that argument. Gravenberch’s ability to perform a dynamic defensive midfield role, both winning the ball in defence and progressing it into attack, is essential to why Liverpool have been able to consistently churn out wins in the first three months of the season.

The only defensive midfielder in the competition with more progressive carries than Gravenberch’s 13 is Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller, who has only achieved one more than the Liverpool man.

It not only points to how Arne Slot wants his men to play but having someone with the ability to actually do it. If it was easy, Gravenberch wouldn’t be on an island when you look at these numbers. But he is.

And if he keeps this up, the acknowledgements that he is the best defensive midfielder in the world will undoubtedly start to rain in.

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