Liverpool's title chances took a hit on Sunday as they suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Premier League at Anfield.
The Reds were wasteful in front of goal throughout the afternoon and failed to get themselves back into the match after Eberechi Eze's early opener.
Tyrick Mitchell found the England international in inexplicable space in the box to calmly pass the ball beyond Alisson and into the back of the net in the 14th minute.
There were a number of poor performers on the day for Liverpool but one player must now be brutally ditched by Jurgen Klopp, after potentially costing Liverpool the title, is central midfielder Curtis Jones.
How Curtis Jones may have cost Liverpool the title
The Reds had the chance to move to the top of the Premier League table with a win against Crystal Palace, and Arsenal's defeat to Aston Villa later in the day meant that they would have stayed there.
Liverpool would have been ahead of current champions Manchester City with six games left to play but now find themselves behind both the Cityzens and the Gunners, which leaves them with plenty of ground to cover if they want to secure the title in Klopp's final season at the club.
Jones played a significant role in the team's loss to Palace as the England U21 international missed a glorious chance to pull the Reds level during the second half, and that could have provided a platform for the side to then kick on and secure all three points.
He was sent flying clean through on goal, one-on-one with Dean Henderson, and somehow managed to send his right-footed effort considerably wide of the right-hand post.
No Liverpool player had a higher Expected Goals (xG) in the game than Jones (0.72) and this speaks to how much he let the side down with his wastefulness in front of goal.
Minutes played
82
xG
0.72
Goals
0
Key passes
0
Duels won
5/15
As you can see in the table above, the Englishman was also weak out of possession, with ten of his 15 duels lost, and failed to create a single chance for his teammates throughout the game.
Jones was also partially to blame for the winning goal from Eze as he failed to track his compatriot's run into the box, which left him free to finish from Mitchell's cross. However, Ibrahima Konate was also in a questionable position – standing five yards ahead of the near post marking no one, so it was not only the midfielder at fault.
Piecing the 23-year-old dud's contributions to the game on and off the ball, GOAL journalist Tom Maston handed the academy graduate a dismal match rating of 2/10 – citing his error for the only goal of the game and his huge miss one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
Overall, Jones was culpable for Liverpool's loss with his performance in and out of possession, and that is why he may now have cost the Reds the title with this loss handing the advantage to Arsenal and City.
It is also why Klopp must now brutally ditch him from the starting XI, with Dominik Szoboszlai – who created three chances and one 'big chance' off the bench – a possible candidate to replace him.