Liverpool need star midfielder fit - stats show how important he is for Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool suffered a defeat in their first Champions League group game last night, but their best midfielder showed just how important he is for this team.

The Reds lost out away to Napoli 4-1 making that three away losses to the Italian club in a row, spanning over five years.

Jurgen Klopp saw his team out-run and out-worked once again, with their midfield being a particularly worrying and growing problem.

Despite that, Thiago returned in midfield and showed fans just how important he is to this team - the stats also reflected this as well.

How important is Thiago?

Given Liverpool have had to start a 36-year-old James Milner in the Champions League alongside an out-of-form Fabinho illustrates the current issues.

Thiago is their best midfielder - there's no doubt about that. The Reds have missed his quality, his vision and his control.

His impact was felt as soon as he was substituted on in the 62nd minute for his first appearance since the opening PL day draw with Fulham.

According to James Pearce of the Athletic, Thiago was on the field for 28 minutes but made six tackles - more than the starting midfield three and the two full-backs combined.

He also won seven of his nine duels [78%]. Fabinho won just 2/8 [25%] and Milner won just 3/11 [27%].

The quality was telling but the issue still remains that Thiago is unlikely to stay fit for a prolonged period of time, nor can he play regular, consistent games - his record over his career proves that with 30 appearances in the league the highest tally he's ever had.

What makes it worse is that Naby Keita is set to be absent for an unknown amount of time, as he's suffered a 'serious hamstring injury' according to Pearce.

Ensuring Thiago can stay relatively fit before the World Cup in November will be key for Liverpool, as well as helping new loan signing Arthur Melo to settle into this team - as he can at least replicate (to a certain extent) Thiago's control on the ball.