The September worldwide break is behind us, and whereas Liverpool followers are nonetheless giddy from watching Trent Alexander-Arnold obliterate any ridiculous notion that he can’t carry out for England – at right-back – followers eager for one other week with out the Premier League could be few and much between.

Liverpool have loved a masterful begin to life beneath Arne Slot, whose three victories and three clear sheets from three matches to begin his reign have solid any doubts far into the depths of the River Mersey.

However there’s all the time a component of concern that worldwide motion, freezing home pleasure, will stifle the fluency, and return sure members to their golf equipment nursing blows.

Liverpool, sadly, should take care of such a setback within the form of Harvey Elliott, whose irritating begin to the season has been compounded.

Harvey Elliott’s damage blow

Elliott’s position beneath Jurgen Klopp grew because the 2023/24 marketing campaign went on, and the dynamic midfielder truly ended up being considered one of Liverpool’s most spectacular gamers towards the enterprise finish, instrumental in profitable the Carabao Cup and recovering type on the finish of the yr.

He is reverted to a bit-part position because the summer time, although it is tough to make use of the opening three matches as a dependable yardstick, with Slot seeking to instil his strategies and magnificence as seamlessly as doable earlier than increasing his staff.

Elliott is an skilled technician with ball-playing qualities that supply one thing distinctive and lethal to Liverpool. Klopp revealed that the 21-year-old’s comparative lack of enjoying time final yr was considered one of his solely regrets as he touched the Anfield signal for one remaining time.

The England U21 worldwide is criminally underrated, among the many best younger skills that the nation’s wealthy and expansive prospect pool has to supply. He’ll now watch from the aspect as Liverpool proceed to adapt to this new lifestyle.

The diminutive midfielder fractured his foot earlier this week whereas on responsibility with England U21s, which means that he’ll miss as much as six weeks of motion and thus unlikely to return to motion till the top of October, after the second worldwide break of the season.

The importance of this blow shouldn’t be understated. Elliott has not loved greater than 13 minutes of soccer beneath his new boss however would have been anticipated to function prominently over the weeks forward, with the video games coming thick and quick, two per week after Liverpool welcome Nottingham Forest within the Premier League on Saturday.

His sharp creativity is such a superb asset. As per FBref, Elliott ranks among the many prime 1% of central midfielders throughout Europe’s prime 5 leagues over the previous yr for assists, the highest 4% for shot-creating actions, the highest 17% for passes tried, the highest 9% for progressive passes and the highest 3% for progressive carries per 90.

The person to switch Harvey Elliott

He is not going to be simply changed, however an unlikely alternative may emerge in 25-year-old Cody Gakpo, who has proved his positional flexibility since signing from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023.

Gakpo has been an necessary member of Liverpool’s staff since signing off the again of an distinctive marketing campaign on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the versatile ahead scoring 23 targets and supplying 9 assists from 46 beginning appearances.

He is normally a centre-forward or an in-cutting left winger, however he is performed throughout myriad roles and could possibly be an unlikely Elliott alternative, this is why.

Whereas the information extracted above doesn’t run in opposition to attacking midfielders and wingers, Gakpo has displayed an inherent ability for ball-playing and particularly playmaking, with new RB Salzburg supervisor Pep Lijnders hailing the “particular talent set” that makes him such an attention-grabbing multi-functional possibility.

In fact, Dominik Szoboszlai seems to be set to proceed his position as Slot’s starring quantity ten, however the Hungarian is not going to be anticipated to function from the beginning whenever, particularly when contemplating the congested run of forthcoming fixtures headed Liverpool’s method.

One of many principal questions boils down as to if Slot feels his slick and control-focused model of soccer may be efficiently carried out with Gakpo in a deeper-lying position than he may need anticipated, however the desk above and the Dutchman’s previous crispness means that he does certainly have the instruments to succeed.

Furthermore, Gakpo received 51% of his floor duels within the Premier League final yr, as per Sofascore, suggesting that he has the combativeness to achieve a deeper position, one thing that Klopp clearly famous.

Final season, the Netherlands worldwide performed seven occasions for Liverpool in a middle-situated position, notably spectacular throughout his staff’s 3-0 victory over Brentford in December.

Certainly, he accomplished 91% of his passes and received 4 of his seven contested floor duels earlier than being changed by Elliott within the remaining part, so he is undoubtedly a viable possibility: Slot would merely be taking a leaf out of his predecessor’s books.

The £120k-per-week expertise has but to essentially showcase his model beneath the brand new administration on Merseyside, in a aggressive setting, however Slot goes to have to begin shuffling the pack with the sturdy stream of matches flowing Liverpool’s method, and Elliott, the seemingly candidate to alternate with Szoboszlai, finds himself beneath the shadow of the sideline.

Is he going to make this transfer? Alexis Mac Allister can carry out in a sophisticated midfield position, and so can Curtis Jones. Federico Chiesa may additionally provide an attention-grabbing tackle the place after signing from Juventus in August, however the Reds will want to blood him slowly and keep away from a recurrence of previous damage misfortune.

Gakpo could possibly be the person for the job. He’ll be itching to show himself in any case.