One of the biggest tasks for Andoni Iraola at Liverpool is to find balance in his midfield, with the Basque seemingly determined to play with two holding players behind Florian Wirtz.

So far, Iraola has tried a number of different combinations, but whatever pairing he has played between Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch simply has not worked. Though Mac Allister has had an excellent season, Liverpool lack control when the Argentine is partnered with either Szoboszlai or Gravenberch.

Once again, the Reds were a little too easy to play through against Crystal Palace on Sunday, with Szoboszlai and Mac Allister not compact enough in tandem. Then, just as he did against Arsenal last weekend, and again during the trip to Fenerbahce in midweek, Trey Nyoni came on and instantly improved matters.

Liverpool lost control of the match as soon as Nyoni was brought off against Arsenal, and, in a reversal of fortunes, they looked much more at ease with the 19-year-old on the pitch at Selhurst Park. It may not be good news for Gravenberch or Szoboszlai, but it is becoming increasingly clear that Nyoni is the answer Iraola has been searching for in his midfield.

Trey Nyoni underlines his importance to Liverpool

When Liverpool decided not to buy a replacement for Curtis Jones over the summer, there was concern over whether Nyoni was ready to step up.

The youngster has made a mockery of those doubts in the months since, and having been trusted to start in big games by Iraola, he looks to be improving every single week.

That continued against Palace, with Nyoni playing a big part in taking the game away from the home team after coming on with 20 minutes left.

His best moment came in the build-up to Alexander Isak’s killer third goal, as he fired a perfect ball between the Palace midfield to find Isak, who controlled well and set Victor Munoz racing off down the right.

It was a small example of the kind of pass Nyoni is becoming known for, and was one of four line breaking balls he played during his short time on the pitch. Interestingly, Szoboszlai only provided three line breaking passes despite playing more than three times longer than Nyoni.

With Liverpool needing to find Wirtz in pockets of space and build vertically and quickly through the pitch, this is a key attribute for Iraola’s midfielders to have. Mac Allister is well-suited having made eight line breaking passes during the match, and the combination of the Argentine and Nyoni has already looked perfect on a couple of occasions this season.

Nyoni will explode in 2027

Heading towards the January transfer window, there has been a feeling that Liverpool could do with signing a midfielder in order to compete through the second half of the season.

While that may still need to happen, the form and development of Nyoni could put the brakes on any transfer plans.

There is an uncomfortable conversation to be had around both Gravenberch and Szoboszlai, which is not really ideal for Iraola, but his job is to give Liverpool the best chance of winning matches. Right now, having Nyoni in the team over both senior players is the way to do that.

Liverpool have a plan to integrate Nyoni for a long while, with Andy Robertson hailing the teenager as being ‘special’ back in March of this year, but you can never be certain how a young player will fare until you throw him into the team.

Liverpool now know that Nyoni can handle the pressure of the first-team at Anfield, and while these things are not linear, the expectation should now be that the former Leicester prospect will get even better into 2027.

He may not have been Liverpool’s most standout player of the win over Palace, with Alisson Becker taking most of the plaudits, but with an 82% pass success rate, 100% of his dribbles completed and two out of three ground duels won, Nyoni delivered more confirmation that he is exactly what Iraola is looking for in midfield now and moving forward.