Harvey Elliott has been rarely used by Liverpool this season but impressive Wembley showing has posed a question
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Andy Robertson of Liverpool checks on team-mate Harvey Elliott after the final whistle of the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley on March 16 2025
Andy Robertson of Liverpool checks on team-mate Harvey Elliott after the final whistle of the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley on March 16 2025
(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
It was in many ways wholly representative of Harvey Elliott's season. And, not for the first time in his Liverpool career, the midfielder deserved better.
With the League Cup final in its final throes, Elliott attempted to get the Reds moving out of their half down the right flank when he was completely cleaned out by Joelinton. As is often the case, the Newcastle United man escaped censure while his opponent was left prone in agony on the turf.
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And when the final whistle went moments later and the Magpies danced around in delight, Elliott received treatment before belatedly leaving the field. He hobbled away from Wembley afterwards.
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Elliott had done more than most to drag Liverpool back into the final with a lively cameo in which his perceptive passes finally gave the Reds' forward line some much-needed service and ultimately invited fellow substitute Federico Chiesa to pull one goal back.
And it perhaps gave Arne Slot a glimpse of what might have been had matters been different for Elliott in a campaign that, after a promising pre-season, was almost instantly brought to a shuddering halt by a fractured foot suffered on international duty.
“He was very unlucky that after two games he got injured and was out for a long time," said Slot in January. "And from what I’ve seen until now, with almost all of our players that have been out for quite a while, in this league, in this tempo, in this intensity, and the quality we have, the other teams have as well, it is not so easy to come back and be at your best immediately."
Elliott would be forgiven for thinking he's heard much of this before. Here's what Jurgen Klopp had to say towards the end of last season after the midfielder was largely restricted to bench duty as Liverpool lost their way during the closing weeks.
“It’s not that I go back and think ‘okay, what did we all do wrong?’,” said Klopp. “But if I regret one thing a little bit it’s that Harvey didn’t play often enough maybe. Because in a very important, intense period – January, a lot of injuries – he played really good. He was probably our best player, right wing, right midfield, all these kinds of things."
Talk about going from feast to famine. Having appeared in more games for Liverpool last season than all bar Darwin Nunez, this time around Elliott barely scrapes into the top 20 for most appearances. He has played barely 600 minutes over 21 outings, none of which have been as a Premier League starter.
But he so often makes a difference. For all the talk of Liverpool having no matchwinners beyond Mohamed Salah, it was Elliott who replaced the Egyptian to score the only goal at Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month. Indeed, in Elliott's last 43 appearances for Liverpool, he has started only 16 but has seven goals and 12 assists, averaging a goal involvement every 97 minutes.
And of his 14 goals for Liverpool, more than a third have come in the Champions League. This is a player who knows how to deliver on the grandest stage.
Having been at Liverpool for approaching six years, it's easy to forget Elliott only turns 22 at the start of next month. And while he is approaching 200 senior career appearances, his absences through injury and being benched mean he will have a better chance of avoiding the burnout that so often hampers those who break into the first team at an early age.
The dominance of Dominik Szoboszlai in the number 10 role this season has made it difficult for Elliott, despite him being ready-made for the position. But the England U21 international can't stay on the fringes forever and, about to enter the final two years of his contract, it will be intriguing to see both his and Liverpool's reaction should rumoured interest from potential suitors become concrete in the summer.
The time has come for fortune to change for Elliott - and to no longer be the subject of regrets.