Trey Nyoni has become a key man for Liverpool with two starts this week under Andoni Iraola, and there is now a strong argument that he is the Reds' best starting XI

If Trey Nyoni starts for Liverpool at Crystal Palace this Sunday — and there is a very strong chance — then he will have almost tripled his minutes from the entirety of last season already by the end of the weekend.

Liverpool turned down a $40 million (£30 million) bid for Nyoni from Nottingham Forest in the summer — the same amount that saw Curtis Jones sign for Inter Milan — and made it clear to the 19-year-old that there was a pathway to regular action.

And after successive starts against Arsenal in the Premier League and then Fenerbahce in the Champions League, Andoni Iraola has already ensured that the Reds were true to their word.

Alongside Alexis Mac Allister, it would be fair to describe Nyoni as the best option for Liverpool in the center of the field at the moment.

Though some of the discourse around Dominik Szoboszlai has seen the number eight become an unnecessary scapegoat, there is no doubt that Nyoni offers some things he doesn't.

With Nyoni in the side, Liverpool looks much better balanced. His ability to thread balls into the likes of Florian Wirtz is also vital.

Only five players in the entire Premier League have a higher number of line-breaking passes than the Reds ace on a per 90 minute basis; three of those are center-backs (Abdulkodir Khusanov, Jan Paul van Hecke and Marc Guehi), while the other two are Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice.

Without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool has lacked in terms of progressing the ball upfield at times, but Nyoni is offering a solution on that front, feeding those stationed ahead of him.

Jones, the man that Nyoni has essentially replaced at Liverpool, played 49 times in all competitions last term under Arne Slot, yet the Reds are yet to miss him.

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That is not to say that Nyoni will play as many matches as Jones this season — that may not be the best plan for such a young star who is unused to such a workload — but his role, clearly, is not going to shrink substantially.

"It is new to me, playing this many games — I didn't even do that in the academy," Nyoni admitted in a chat with reporters, including from the Liverpool ECHO, ahead of this weekend's clash with Crystal Palace.

"The faith in youth the manager has and the players around me have in me helps me settle a lot more. Slowly and steadily, I am adjusting to the pace and tempo of the game. You have to learn quickly. There's a lot I have to learn, but I am enjoying it."

If he carries on like this, then Nyoni's progress will continue. His fast-tracking in recent weeks has been incredibly impressive.