‘Great to see…’ – Neil Mellor says Liverpool have a ‘special talent’ who shone v Southampton
Neil Mellor singled out one Liverpool player for praise following the Reds’ 2-1 win over Southampton on Wednesday night.
Harvey Elliott’s goal in the 32nd minute turned out to be the winner for his side, who progressed to a third Carabao Cup semi-final in four years, and the 21-year-old made quite an impact on his first start of an injury-ravaged season.
Prior to last night, the youngster had made just four substitute appearances totalling 33 minutes, having missed three months due to a fractured foot (Transfermarkt), but he played the full match at St Mary’s as Arne Slot’s team maintained their hopes of retaining the trophy they won last February.
Mellor heaps praise on Elliott
Late on Wednesday night, Mellor took to X to share a post from Liverpool’s official channel which showed Elliott blowing kisses to the travelling Reds supporters.
The LFCTV pundit added his own assessment of our number 19 by commenting: “Great to see this lad back starting and influencing games. A special talent”, followed by a clapping emoji.
Great to see this lad back starting and influencing games
A special talent https://t.co/j3jx5Td7DS— Neil Mellor (@NeilMellor33) December 18, 2024
Lift-off for Elliott after injury torment
Elliott’s talent has never been in doubt during his time at Liverpool, but the aforementioned injury has unfortunately prevented him from making a lasting impression on Slot until now.
However, the manner in which he dispatched his goal will surely have struck a chord with the head coach as the 21-year-old seeks to start more regularly throughout the rest of the season.
Despite losing five of his six duels against Southampton and misplacing 12 out of 53 passes (Sofascore), the ex-Fulham youngster grew into the game last night and was always looking to get involved, and he linked up well with Federico Chiesa after moving into midfield from his initial right-sided position.
Having come through a full 90 minutes and scored his first goal of the campaign, Elliott should have a good platform from which to grow during the festive period and beyond, thus underlining Mellor’s billing of him as a ‘special talent’.
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