Luis Diaz will have this new role at Liverpool after the international break

Jürgen Klopp and his Liverpool staff will be hoping the international break will be a respite from the criticism that has been heaped on them for their results so far. The Reds are eighth in the Premier League with nine points from six games played, a start they have not been used to, at least not in recent seasons. In the Champions League, the situation has been no different, as they lost 4-1 to Napoli in the opener and a week later struggled to beat Ajax 2-1 at home at Anfield. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, they have two postponed games in the Premiership, which makes the situation even more worrying when looking at the table.

The only positive aspect of this start to the season is that Luis Diaz has established himself as a starter, all thanks to the physical display that Klopp loves and the three goals he contributed in the games against Bournemouth (2) and Crystal Palace. Although the Colombian has been criticised by the English press, he has also received praise, and some even consider him to be the most outstanding player so far this season. One of the main newspapers in the Merseyside region published the ratings of each player and in the 'top 1' they chose Diaz as the best.

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"Luis Diaz (6.78) has been the standout performer so far, although fellow striker Mohamed Salah (6.67) is not far behind, impressive figures given that both have featured in every game so far this season," the article said. Among those who have made good impressions, the English outlet highlights Alisson, Thiago Alcántara, and Kostas Tsimikas, as well as defensive standouts Joel Matip and Virgil Van Dijk, who, in any case, do not rate as spectacular, as they used to in other recent campaigns.

Through the statistics published each day by the Premier League. Averaging the six games played, all of them as a starter, Dijk has a percentage of 77.7% in completed dribbles, with seven achieved and only two that managed to stop him. He is also at the top of this statistic, ahead of such recognised players as Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace), Allan Saint-Maximin (Newcastle), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal) and Jadon Sancho (Manchester United), who complete the top five in this category.

<strong>Díaz is better than Sancho and Haaland</strong>

Díaz also ranks well in the list of players with the most forward passes (42), yellow cards (4) and even the most touches inside the box (32), even though his position requires him to be on the flank and not so much in the box as centre-forwards such as Erling Haaland, Gabriel Jesús and Darwin Núñez, for example.