The idea that Liverpool could drop Harvey Elliott in the relatively near future once key men return from the injury room is a prospect that would no doubt infuriate a considerable number of fans were it to occur.
That’s not least of all due to the fact that the Englishman has objectively been the Reds’ best performer in a poor midfield department since day dot of the 2022/23 campaign.
Still, the underlying numbers, as furnished on Twitter by the Liverpool.com writer @BenBocsak, would in fact suggest that Jurgen Klopp may very well be well-advised to do so in order to bring about further defensive stability in the middle of the park.
In the league Harvey Elliott has been dribbled past the most for #LFC (9) and has won just 18.2% of his attempted tackles.
He has been a bright spark going forward and in possession, but to play in midfield Elliott needs to be better defensively. https://t.co/siC8i3mlBp
— Bocsák Bence (@BenBocsak) September 10, 2022
A lack of proper protection in front of the backline has left one of our most potent weapons in our high line, once a proud feature of a side geared towards actively encroaching the final third and boxing our opponents in, turned against us.
One only need rewind back to the 4-1 defeat in Naples to see how ruthless Luciano Spalletti’s men were in finding space behind enemy lines (helped in part by some clear ball watching from generally reliable defensive operators).
A midfield three of Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho will likely be favoured when all fit
Despite the meeting with Wolves having been postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, fans likely won’t have to wait too long for some competitive action with our hosting of Ajax in the Champions League just around the corner.
Liverpool live scores can be quickly found and kept track of online – hopefully many will be seeing positive updates streaming through following the wake-up call that was our 4-1 humbling at the Stadio Armando Diego Maradona.
It feels still a little harsh to be drawing attention to such numbers associated with the 19-year-old given how’s generally been the brightest spark in the middle of the park.
Still, if the youngster is the biggest contributing factor to our lack of stability in the midfield, Elliott has to improve – and quickly – if he’s to retain his spot in the first-XI.
It leaves the Liverpool man with a lot of important work to do on the training ground to meet Klopp’s expectations before the likes of Jordan Henderson and Co. return from the sidelines.
His sheer maturity for his age and work ethic can only stand him in good stead in that regard, however, and hopefully we’ll be seeing some rapid improvement from the teenager that can help him fend off the challenge from some of our more experienced midfield options.
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