Liverpool's latest injury setback is bad news for Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold

Harvey Elliott has returned home early from international duty as a result of an unspecified injury

Liverpool face a nervous wait on the outcome of Harvey Elliott’s recent injury setback.

The 18-year-old was forced to withdraw from the England Under-21 squad and return to Merseyside where he will be assessed by club officials.

The news comes as a big blow with the Premier League set to return this weekend as Liverpool make the tricky journey to Elland Road to take on Leeds.

Although Elliott is still in the infancy of his Anfield career, he’s had a standout impact on the Liverpool team already this season and is quickly becoming one of Jurgen Klopp’s more indispensable players.

Many expected him to predominantly be Mohamed Salah’s understudy this year, yet it’s within a right-sided number eight role that he’s been flourishing.

He played only the final ten minutes in Liverpool’s season opener away against Norwich City, however, he started both fixtures at home to Burnley and Chelsea.

Alongside Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, he helped turn an already menacing duo into a threatening trio on Liverpool’s right-side.

The natural starting position of the three has often resembled the below, with Alexander-Arnold holding the width, Salah in the advanced position and Elliott infield.

Yet rotations between the three in those positions are regular, and each player is comfortable operating within the different zones, causing all sorts of headaches for their opponents.

We see in the below, taken a few seconds after the above image, which shows how effortlessly and quickly Elliott has pushed to the more advanced position, whilst Alexander-Arnold has come into a more central area and Salah has drifted out wide.

These rotations are so successful and dangerous for the opposition due to the individual quality of each of the players involved.

Alexander-Arnold’s distribution, combined with the penetrative threat of Elliott and Salah means that any of the three can punish a side if they become spare, yet competently tracking them as they move from one marker to another can be a near-impossible task.

If a defender must exit one zone to tightly track one of the three, they leave a space to be exploited by another. However, if they don’t track the movements, they risk allowing them to pick the ball up in dangerous areas without any immediate pressure.

It’s easy to see why this conundrum is going to be such a headache for opponents this season, and also why Elliott has quickly become such an integral player in Klopp’s team.

Liverpool of course have more than adequate stars who can take the 18-year-old’s place in that position, players such as Jordan Henderson or Thiago. Yet the profiles of each don’t compliment Salah and Alexander-Arnold quite as Elliott’s does.

For that reason, the club will be hoping his injury is only a minor one and that they’ll have him available again for selection sooner rather than later.
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