Trey Nyoni continued his impressive start to the season with a composed display in the heart of Liverpool’s midfield during the 6-3 win over LASK on Wednesday.

Nyoni looks certain to be in the XI against Brentford on Saturday following Ryan Gravenberch’s suspension and Dominik Szoboszlai’s injury, and he warmed up for that difficult task in the best way by dominating the midfield in the Champions League.

Iraola wants to see forward passes from Nyoni

Despite his youth, Nyoni offers Liverpool something that they do not really get from their other midfield options. He has some of Alexis Mac Allister and some of Ryan Gravenberch about him, but the teenager is arguably a more inventive passer than both.

This was seen on Wednesday, when Nyoni ran the show in midfield, playing through the lines accurately and with purpose. According to Thompson, this is not by accident, with Iraola asking the former Leicester prospect to play the ball forward whenever possible.

“We both think that he was the key man in that he was making things tick along,” the Scouser told The Official Liverpool FC Podcast alongside fellow former Reds midfielder David Thompson.

“In the pre-season games, you could see that the manager has gone ‘look, I want you to play the ball forward, even if it’s 10 yards I’d rather it go there than come back because things will open up’. You could see he was getting the ball and thinking ‘I’ve got to go forward,’ like as though he could hear the manager’s voice in him ‘play forward, play forward’ at any given opportunity.

“That’s what you see and you’re seeing the fruits of that coming. Not that you have to take risks, but if that ball can and you do it quickly before they try and block the lines, that’s where the magic happens.”

“For such a young man he was pulling the strings,” Thompson added. “He was getting the ball and as it was getting played he’d do that, drop a shoulder and turn and go forward. Yes he passed it back every now and then but it was when people were marked. He knew his whereabouts and he was turning.

“You turn quickly and you’re almost cutting out three of their players, the two wide men and the centre-forward who are trying to press. There was so much to like about his game, but it was his passing, he was fizzing balls in. A couple of times he fizzed too much and the balls went out of play but some of them he turned and boomf, it was in.”

Whatever Iraola is saying behind the scenes to Nyoni, the No. 42 is carrying it out perfectly. This was the perfect way to warm up for a first ever Premier League start on Saturday. Brentford will be much more difficult opposition than LASK, but fans – and, crucially, Iraola – will back Nyoni to take it in his stride.