Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has expressed his excitement at Harvey Elliott's return to full training, saying that the youngster "didn't lose his football brain."
Elliott has been out of action since September, having dislocated his ankle in a 3-0 Leeds United. The teenager had played in all four of Liverpool's previous games this season.
The 18-year-old returned to full training earlier this week and Lijnders smiled as he was asked about the former Fulham player at a news conference ahead of Liverpool's EFL Cup semi-final second leg at Arsenal.
"Let me say it like this, he didn't lose his football brain," Lijnders said, though he did not put a timescale on Elliott's return to match action.
"He shows immediately what he's about. It would be a crime if you would not play him if he trains like this, but we know it's just the start of the team training. He needs time and we go step by step, of course.
"Some players they never knock on the door, they run through it – and he's one of them."
Elliott, the youngest ever Premier League player, returned to Merseyside at the end of last season having enjoyed a productive loan spell at Championship side Blackburn Rovers, where he registered the joint-third most assists in the division (11), behind only Emiliano Buendia (16) and Michael Olise (12), who is now playing a starring role for Crystal Palace.
He was also the only player in the Championship to register as many as three second assists – which Opta defines as a pass/cross that is instrumental in creating a goal-scoring opportunity – and was eighth overall for successful passes into the final third (519), ahead of the likes of Olise (495), Leicester City's Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (478 while on loan at Luton Town) and Tottenham's Oliver Skipp (441 while on loan at Norwich City).
In his three Premier League starts and one substitute appearance this season before his injury, Elliott created five chances, more than team-mate Curtis Jones (three) has in his four starts and three appearances from the bench, and won possession in the middle third of the pitch (17) more often than Jones (11) and even Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (12) despite the former Arsenal man making 15 league appearances, seven of which have been starts.
Lijnders also had words of praise for Liverpool's opponents on Thursday, crediting the work that Mikel Arteta has done since taking charge of Arsenal just over two years ago and noting how well the Gunners played in the goalless first leg at Anfield despite going down to 10 men in the first half when Granit Xhaka was sent off.
Arteta, too, has been happy to utilise younger players as he continues to freshen up Arsenal's squad.
"First of all, Arsenal always had really good players but, for me, they have a really good team at this moment," Lijnders added. "I think credit to Mikel, they matured.
"You see many games where the team with 10 men plays better than the 11 – not play better but they give just this extra step, they give this extra [bit] more because they know they have one player less. What happens many times with the 11 players is that they do one thing less because they know they have one player more. That's exactly what happened.
"Anyway, what I like about the Arsenal game is that we wanted to surprise them with our intensity and that's what we did until Xhaka went off.
"I really think that in football the only advantage exists if you go to the last minute of the game, to be honest. Before that, it's quite even. I think Mikel did an unbelievable job. The team is a proper team.
"They were struggling as well with injuries and, how you said, COVID cases and they had to change as well in the last minute, but if you can play with 10 men like that then you have a mature and good team."
Gakpo feels 'more dangerous' for Liverpool under Slot
Cody Gakpo believes he has become a more "dangerous" player after returning to his preferred left-wing role under new Liverpool boss, Arne Slot.
Gakpo, who joined the Reds in January 2023, was often deployed in a central striker role under Jurgen Klopp during his first 18 months at Anfield.
Across his 53 appearances for Liverpool last season, 27 came as a centre forward, with the remaining 26 coming on either flank or in the attacking midfield position.
The Dutchman, however, has registered eight goal contributions (six goals, two assists) in 17 appearances in all competitions this season, all but one of which has come from the left wing.
Gakpo has found the net four times in his last four outings for the Reds, which included a brace against Brighton in the EFL Cup to propel them into the quarter-finals.
Speaking about the switch, he told Men in Blazers: “Before I came to Liverpool I also played as a left-winger. Then I came here, and I started to play more as a central striker.
“At the Euros, I played as a left-winger again. Then this season the new manager came in. I had a talk with him, and he said, ‘You have to focus on the left-winger position.
"This is your position when you come on or when you start.’ Because he said there’s a lot of competition here, so you just have to show yourself. But he said, ‘That is going to be your position.’
“It felt a little bit, for me, like the old me, like what I did at PSV [Eindhoven] as well. I feel really good in this position. I try to show my best to everybody, what I’m capable of.
“I think I come into more one-v-ones now with my face towards the opponent, where I can really go inside and give a cross, shoot or go outside and give a cross – which is more my game, I would say, and where I think I can be really dangerous and help the team the most.”
Liverpool have enjoyed a fine start to the season, sitting top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables heading into the November international break.
Slot has earned 28 points from his first 11 top-flight games in charge (W9 D1 L1), the joint-most by a manager after as many games in the competition along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.
The Reds also remain the only side with a 100% record in the Champions League and have edged closer to defending their EFL Cup crown this season.
And Gakpo, who played a part in the Reds' win over Chelsea in the final of that competition last year, is eager for that fighting spirit to help bring more success to the club.
“I see those [as] separate,” he said. “When I’m on the pitch, [I’m] really there to win the game, to show my quality," Gakpo said.
“I think one of my qualities is going inside and going for a goal or maybe going for an assist. As an attacking player, I think that’s also part of the job.
“Outside of the pitch, I tend to be a different guy – it’s more about life and development, mental growth, health growth with family, with friends.
"I just try to be myself and I’m very happy that people speak so nicely of me, so thank you everybody!
“Obviously when you come on the pitch, it’s game on. You have to think a little bit different – maybe not that nice in some ways because you have to win.
"But for me, it will never be personal. Out there, [I’m] just trying to do my best for the club and to win these games for the fans, for myself, for the team.
"When the referee blows the last whistle then the switch flips again and then I’m back to normal again.”
Arteta: Saka and Rice injuries do not look good
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta did not have a positive outlook when questioned about Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice's respective injuries following their 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday.
Saka was taken off in the 81st minute, having earlier received treatment on a problem with his leg, while Rice left the pitch 10 minutes earlier having been playing with a broken toe.
While their injuries represent a problem for Arteta, both Saka and Rice were included in the England squad to face Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
It could be a blow for England interim manager Lee Carsley, with Arteta doubtful they will be able to contribute.
"It doesn't look good because for two players of that importance to say they want to come off is unusual," Arteta told reporters after the match. "I don't expect them to be fit [for the international break] because if not, they don't come off."
Saka has already missed two games for Arsenal this season, having picked up an injury during the previous international break. The Gunners have had to deal with numerous injuries to key players, including that of Martin Odegaard, who made his first start for the club since August on Sunday.
"What I'm praying for is that after the international break, we have the team fully physically equipped, that they are available and that they are fit because it's been a nightmare for eight weeks," he added.
"Doubt after doubt, issue after issue, not only with the ones that are not able to play but with the ones who are able to play."
Arteta: Arsenal let their standards drop in Chelsea draw
Mikel Arteta said Arsenal must not accept the standards they showed defensively for Chelsea's equaliser in Sunday's 1-1 draw.
Pedro Neto slammed in from distance at Stamford Bridge, 10 minutes after Gabriel Martinelli had put the Gunners ahead.
Arsenal squandered a golden chance late on, when Leandro Trossard nudged wide from William Saliba's cross, leaving Arteta rolling on the touchline in frustration.
But Arteta, who believes Arsenal "dominated" Chelsea despite the Blues registering 17 shots and 1.28 expected goals (xG), singled out the defending for Neto's equaliser as particularly frustrating.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Arteta said: "The disappointment of not getting three points is bigger [than being satisfied] and it will probably be bigger after watching it back.
"I think we dominated them, we were the better team in many phases and situations in the game and after going ahead, very disappointed in the way we conceded.
"It was so poor. It is not [at] our standards and we don't accept [it].
"It is a second phase set piece and we were disorganised. We didn't reorganise quickly enough and you can't allow the pass that way. You need the quality of Neto to do it but our standards were not good enough."
Arsenal have gone four consecutive Premier League games without a win for the first time since April 2023 (D2 L2); the Gunners had picked up all three points in 21 of their previous 25 league matches before this (D3 L1).
This was the fourth time that Arsenal have faced 15+ shots in a Premier League game this season, already twice as many times as they did so across the whole of the 2023-24 campaign (twice).
Arteta was at least buoyed by the return to fitness of Martin Odegaard, who assisted Martinelli on his first appearance since September. Declan Rice, who missed Wednesday's loss to Inter in the Champions League, also played despite injury concerns.
"[He] has been out for six weeks and barely trained with the team," Arteta said of Odegaard, who played the entire match.
"To be able to play at this level in the Premier League tells you how much he looks after himself and the leadership and character he has. Everything flows better with players like this. We clicked much better. You could see everything was flowing but again it is about winning.
"What we have found is that every day we have had to change something big, because we've had problem after problem.
"Normally the team goes down but this team has unbelievable energy and spirit to play."
The draw left Arsenal in fourth, nine points back from Premier League leaders Liverpool heading into the final international break of 2024.
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