Ryan Gravenberch has done something at Liverpool this season that hasn't been seen since Steven Gerrard

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Liverpool continued their brilliant start to the new season with a narrow win over Chelsea on Sunday.

The Reds have been almost perfect under Arne Slot so far, winning 10 out of 11 games in all competitions and sitting top of the Premier League table.

There have been plenty of reasons for the good form, with Slot improving a number of players within the Liverpool squad after a quiet transfer window.

While the likes of Luis Diaz and Ibrahima Konate look like different players, though, none have seen as a big a difference in output as Ryan Gravenberch.

Resigned to a squad role during his debut season at Anfield last year, Gravenberch has kicked on to become one of Slot’s most important players.

And after the Dutchman started his eighth game of the league campaign on Sunday, a statistic has emerged that has seen Gravenberch match the great Steven Gerrard.

Ryan Gravenberch equals Steven Gerrard feat

Gravenberch was not quite at the outstanding level we’ve seen of him so far this season against Chelsea.

Having started both games for the Netherlands during the recent international break, perhaps there was a touch of fatigue in the No.38’s performance.

Nevertheless, Gravenberch still played the full 90 minutes for Liverpool against Chelsea. After eight games, the former Ajax man has missed just one minute of action.

And according to football statistician Michael Reid, that run of matches under Slot has seen Gravenberch put his name up alongside Gerrard as the youngest midfielder to start the first eight games of the season for Liverpool in over 20 years.

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“Aged 22 years and 157 days, Ryan Gravenberch is the youngest midfielder to start each of Liverpool’s first 8 games of a Premier League season since Steven Gerrard in 2002-03 (22y 121d),” says Reid.

By that point, Gerrard was well on his way to becoming captain of Liverpool and the most important player in the team for the next decade.

While Gravenberch is unlikely to follow in the Scouser’s footsteps, this is yet another indication of just how well he is doing this season.

Ryan Gravenberch underlines his importance

It is credit to both Slot and Gravenberch that this statistic has been allowed to be unearthed.

After failing to land Martin Zubimendi over the summer the Liverpool head coach could easily have panic bought another midfielder to squeeze Gravenberch out of the starting XI.

It has already been reported that Gravenberch would have been on the bench if Zubimendi had joined, and given that the Netherlands international is not a natural sitting midfielder, it might have been easier to look to another new player instead.

But Slot kept faith in Gravenberch and has been handsomely rewarded. With every passing game the midfielder has cemented his place in the team further.

Comparing to last year and you really start to see just what a leap forward this has been for Gravenberch. He made just 12 starts in the Premier League last season, totalling 1,121 minutes. This time, his eight games already put Gravenberch at 719 minutes played.

Gerrard he may not be, but this really underlines just what a player Liverpool have on their hands.