Harvey Elliott will not play at Anfield on Saturday. Which, in its own way, could suit everyone. With a loanee ineligible, Liverpool are spared the possibility of being condemned to a seventh defeat in eight games by a player they discarded after their record spending spree. Unai Emery, meanwhile, will not face questions about why he has not picked a signing who, if his loan becomes permanent, will become Aston Villa’s biggest buy of 2026.
Elliott did not play at Anfield much last season, either. Not from the start, anyway. He began only five matches and just one, an FA Cup win over Accrington, on home soil. If the last few weeks may have made Liverpool far more nostalgic for the Jurgen Klopp era, Elliott may have felt such pangs for the recent past long before many another. He started 27 games in the German’s valedictory campaign. His tally of 53 appearances was the second highest in the squad (second only to Darwin Nunez, another since directed to the Anfield exit) and he chalked up 14 assists.
