Jorginho provided Liverpool with an early warning of the task at hand as Chelsea were held to a goalless draw against West Ham on Sunday.
The Italian’s 180 passes at the London Stadium broke the Premier League record as the most from a player in a single game since 2003/2004, which is when Opta first started collecting passing data.
His prominence on the ball not only reflected his value in Maurizio Sarri’s system, but also depicted a difficulty penetrating West Ham’s compact setup.
Chelsea’s summer signing rarely threatened to dissect the hosts, instead patiently retaining possession in hope of exploiting a lapse in organisation.
Beside surpassing Ilkay Gundogan’s 174 passes for Manchester City against Chelsea back in March, Jorginho also touched the ball a record 191 times, as recorded by Sky Sports Statto.
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Whilst his unrivalled passing figures and his team’s dominant possession statistics made for pleasant reading, both exposed a route to goal for Liverpool.
The likes of Roberto Firmino and James Milner will be licking their lips at the sight of Chelsea’s keep-ball tactics as they prepare to sniff out counter-attacking opportunities.
When Liverpool hunt, they hunt in numbers. There is next to no chance Jurgen Klopp allows Jorginho the same freedom to dictate the tempo of the game.
The former Napoli man has already proven this season the damage he can inflict with his passing expertise from deep-lying positions, whether it be incisively feeding runs in behind or breaching the lines to find an Eden Hazard lurking on the half-turn.
This Liverpool team will be content with Chelsea retaining possession for large periods, but won’t refrain from committing men to snatching the ball high up the pitch.
It’s about time Klopp’s men halted Jorginho in his assured start to life in England.