Liverpool have the ‘greatest midfielder in the Premier League’ as Declan Rice snubbed

Jermaine Pennant thinks Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch is “making a claim for being the greatest” midfielder in the Premier League.

Pennant believes the Liverpool midfielder is better than Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, who he singled out.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s Inside Liverpool podcast, he said: “He’s making a claim for being the greatest at the moment in the Premier League in that role, based on the performances that he’s shown so far.

“I think whatever Slot has done or said to him needs to be analysed because he’s got a totally different tune than [Jurgen] Klopp did.”

Pennant continued: “And you look at the price tag, let’s talk about that. We paid €40million (£34m).

“And if you look at the players in the league in that position – Declan Rice – £105m, Enzo Fernandez – £115m.

“Jude Bellingham, I know, is a number 10 but he’s [worth] £100m or so and Caicedo, obviously ironic we wanted Caicedo – £115m.

“So getting him at €40m and for him to at the moment be outshining all of those players under Slot’s regime.

“I don’t know whatever [Slot has said]. Is it that they’re both Dutch – have they got an understanding where he lets go of the shackles?

“And we’re just seeing this fantastic player, it’s unbelievable.

“And at this moment in time, he’s playing like the best number six in the league.”

Is Pennant spot on, reactionary, or delusional? Well, Gravenberch is certainly up there. Let’s compare him with his competition.

Using the brilliant FBRef, here is how Gravenberch compares to Sandro Tonali, Declan Rice, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Bruno Guimaraes since the start of last season, in the Premier League and domestic cup competitions.

Appearances
Guimaraes – 51
Tonali – 50
Gravenberch – 44
Caicedo – 44
Rice – 44
Fernandez – 43

Goals and assists
Fernandez – 16
Guimaraes – 14
Rice – 14
Tonali – 9
Gravenberch – 7
Caicedo – 5

Key passes
Fernandez – 83
Rice – 65
Guimaraes – 55
Tonali – 35
Gravenberch – 32
Caicedo – 31

Progressive passes
Guimaraes – 297
Caicedo – 245
Fernandez – 243
Rice – 213
Gravenberch – 201
Tonali – 167

Interceptions
Gravenberch – 66
Caicedo – 64
Tonali – 45
Guimaraes – 35
Rice – 32
Fernandez – 16

Tackles
Caicedo – 66
Gravenberch – 36
Guimaraes – 35
Fernandez – 33
Tonali – 30
Rice – 19

Errors leading to a shot
Guimaraes – 5
Fernandez – 4
Tonali – 3
Gravenberch – 2
Caicedo – 1
Rice – 0

Take-on success %
Tonali – 53.5
Rice – 50
Gravenberch – 47.8
Fernandez – 45
Caicedo – 44.3
Guimaraes – 40.9

Ball recoveries
Caicedo – 258
Guimaraes – 218
Gravenberch – 214
Tonali – 198
Rice – 170
Fernandez – 170

Aerial duel won %
Caicedo – 63.8
Gravenberch – 62
Rice – 56.7
Tonali – 48
Guimaraes – 41.3
Fernandez – 34.7

Yellow/red cards
Caicedo – 13/0
Guimaraes – 12/0
Fernandez – 9/0
Gravenberch – 8/1
Rice – 7/1
Tonali – 6

What have we learned? Nothing? Yeah, same here. Good stuff.

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