Stefan Bajcetic

Teenage midfielder growing in importance after each and every game.

Klopp, meanwhile, added: “We are really happy with him, a top boy, really smart and calm. “Since he started playing for us, he has been our best player maybe so hopefully he keeps that confidence and keeps going.” [urgen Klopp](/topic/jurgen-klopp) and [Mohamed Salah](/topic/mohamed-salah) both lavished praise on Stefan Bajcetic for his performance during [Liverpool](/topic/liverpool)’s win over [Everton](/topic/everton).

The 18-year-old midfielder starred for Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp's side registered their first Premier League win of 2023 with a 2-0 victory against Everton ...

'I wasn't sure if this was the game for him tonight given the power and physicality of Everton's midfield but he's been outstanding. Mo Salah is probably one of the best players ever in Liverpool history so it is nice to hear a legend say that to me. Salah has been. Hopefully we keep playing well and win more games. 'He's a great player and person, he always tries to work hard. 'Nunez has been amazing.

The 18-year-old midfielder produced another mature and confident display at Anfield as the Reds defeated Everton 2-0 on Monday night.

Before Liverpool's win over Everton on Monday Night Football, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was concerned about where Jurgen Klopp's side would get their ...

But the return of Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte could be a big part of the solution for Guardiola. But a common problem is stunting their progress, and ultimately led to the dismissal of Jesse Marsch: scoring goals. On paper he seems like the perfect foil for the array of pace and trickery in this Leeds squad but there is a question mark surrounding whether the same player that has led the line magnificently in recent years still remains. Their last four goals conceded have come from City errors, with Silva just the latest player to lose concentration and gift the opposition a goal. It was an issue in the defeat at Tottenham last week, too. "We need to show we are better than them," he said of Wednesday's meeting in his post-match interview with Sky Sports. And Real Madrid, the side which beat them in the Champions League final last season, will provide a seriously stiff examination and could swiftly stall any talk of a recovery. Erling Haaland tends to dominate the headlines with Manchester City and that is sure to continue following his early withdrawal on Sunday. It was Rodri, of course, who scored City's stoppage-time winner in their last visit to the Emirates Stadium. In their next two games, Liverpool must go to fourth-placed Newcastle and then host Real Madrid in the Champions League last-16. This was Liverpool's first win at home in 2023 and just their second win in eight games this calendar year. So much has been made of Liverpool's failure to upgrade their midfield, but perhaps Bajcetic can become part of the solution to that problem.

The 18-year-old is giving Jurgen Klopp more reasons to keep picking him at the heart of Liverpool's midfield.

Win that and a six-point difference with a game in hand suddenly feels a lot closer than the evidence and results of the past few months would suggest it should be. The difference from the Reds in ninth to Newcastle in fourth is nine points, with a game in hand. “I won more confidence playing at Anfield for a couple of games so I always love a tackle so I combine both [defending and attacking] and that is good. And that leads back to the big question now facing Klopp: how exactly do Liverpool win more games? “We are really happy with him, a top boy, really smart and calm,” Klopp said after the win. Another first will soon come though, in all likelihood: a maiden appearance against a team from his home nation, with Real Madrid on the horizon.

The young Spaniard looks to have breathed fresh life into Liverpool's ageing midfield.

The timing of Bajcetic's substitution after 88 minutes maximised the choreography to ensure he received a deserved standing ovation from the Kop. Put him in a Liverpool side in which everyone else is purring and the result is the precociousness which eclipsed an Everton midfield which had outrun and outfought Arsenal a week earlier. By the time he was ready to feature for the Under-21s, Klopp and his assistant Pep Lijnders had decided they wanted him in the first team set-up, so he barely played for the second tier side. He has been immune from criticism after some dire defeats – not just because of his tender years – but because he was one of the few demonstrating passion, poise and promise amid carnage. The reconstruction of Liverpool before next season has already been fantasised by those anticipating a summer splurge, Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham imagined to be exchanging one-twos with Wolves’ Matheus Nunes in the Anfield centre-circle. Liverpool had been negotiating with Celta Vigo for months, only to be told in the last few days of the transfer window there was no hope.

Anfield teenager delivered a performance beyond his years in the Merseyside Derby, and makes the summer midfield rebuild less arduous.

[Cody Gakpo](https://theathletic.com/football/player/cody-gakpo-djGTTuUUTuWr6O2m/)’s first Liverpool goal. Liverpool will be doubly relieved he did, especially when looking at the fact the kid cost just €250,000 (about £220,000/$270,000). The dad did things very well.” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff were impressed, applauding him whenever he made a telling contribution (and there were plenty of those). He joined Liverpool from Celta in December 2020 at the age of 16, just before post-Brexit regulations kicked in on New Year’s Day. His dad wasn’t overly protective,” Simon Gonzalez-Banga, Stefan’s coach at Val Minor, told The Athletic recently. And Bajcetic, the last player Liverpool recruited before that deadline, arrived in England as a central defender who could play in midfield. When he left the pitch late on he was given a raucous standing ovation. But Bajcetic flew around the pitch, tormenting Everton with his harrying, close control and zippy passes. His performances this season have helped accelerate that, as did No volume helps him to concentrate on the action. And though there may have been no actual sound coming from his TV, his son’s intrepid performance will have been booming out of the screen in a different way.

Stefan Bajcetic celebrated his Man of the Match award with actor Will Ferrell, following Liverpool's 2-0 win over Everton.The 18-year-old was pivotal.

Get up to £30 in free bets on selected events. £20) on selected events at odds of 2.00+, in 7 days. Ferrell, star of Anchorman and Step Brothers, is in the UK taking in some football games. Bonuses expire in 7 days. He was a centre-half, then we put him on 6, now he played on 8. [Bajcetic](https://talksport.com/football/1155324/who-is-liverpool-teenager-stefan-bajcetic-rejected-manchester-united/), [who was hailed by Salah](https://talksport.com/football/1331063/stefan-bajcetic-age-liverpool-everton-mohamed-salah/), with the youngster putting in a Man of the Match display and then meeting American actor Ferrell at full time.