Rio Ngumoha was one of the few Liverpool players to come out with any credit from the Reds’ dismal 3-2 defeat to Fenerbahce on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old has been impressive in recent weeks, and having been given another chance to impress by Andoni Iraola – this time on Liverpool’s left wing – he did not disappoint.

Ngumoha is the Champions League’s best dribbler

If Ngumoha was brilliant against Villarreal on matchday three, he was not quite as good in Turkey, but he still showed what a handful he is becoming for opposition defenders.

Unsurprisingly, his seven dribbles completed was the most of any player on the pitch on Wednesday, and it gave him a grand total of 22 in four Champions League outings this term.

That sees Ngumoha comfortably atop the charts for the competition after four matchdays this season, with his nearest competitor being Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal, who has completed 16 dribbles.

Adjusted to dribbles per 90 minutes, Ngumoha still leads, with an average of 7.9 every match. That is a full 1.5 ahead of second place Alysson, with Yamal sitting down in 10th.

Trey Nyoni gets in on the act

Despite another quality performance against Fenerbahce, Ngumoha was actually eclipsed by fellow youngster Trey Nyoni, who scored his first goal for Liverpool while strengthening his grip on a place in the starting XI.

Nyoni is becoming a problem for Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, and the 19-year-old has the statistics to back it up.

As Opta noted after Liverpool’s defeat on Wednesday, Nyoni has completed 92% passes under high-intensity pressure in the Champions League this season, which is the most of any player to have attempted 100 passes or more.

With Ngumoha edging out Yamal in the dribbling stakes, Nyoni beats fellow Barcelona wonderkid Pedri into second here. The Spaniard has a high-intensity pressure passing percentage of 91%.

While some will dismiss this kind of statistic as being somewhat meaningless, what it shows is that Nyoni is comfortable receiving and passing the ball while the opposition try to stop him. That will really count for something to Iraola, and it illustrates what a composed figure the youngster is.

Liverpool may not have got the result they wanted from Wednesday’s game, but in Ngumoha and Nyoni, they have two of the best emerging talents in Europe.