Harvey Elliott has said he does not want the reputation of a Liverpool super-sub as the priority is to establish himself in Jürgen Klopp’s team.
The 20-year-old midfielder has made several telling contributions off the bench this season, including the 91st-minute winner at Crystal Palace that took Liverpool top of the Premier League on Saturday. Elliott accepts he must be patient to start games for a squad filled with world-class talent and seize his opportunities when they arise.
One is expected to come against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday when Klopp will field a team “with a good mix between experience and youth” in the final Europa League group game.
The England Under-21 international, however, is reluctant to be tagged as purely an impact substitute for Liverpool.
Elliott said: “For me, I don’t really want to be known as a super-sub. It’s a great headline, a nice one, but at the same time I want to be in the team. It’s time for me to establish myself in that position again and hopefully get a good run of games. But I need to be patient and maybe be the super-sub as well.
“I need to keep enjoying my football, play with a smile and if it’s as a super-sub, then fine, I’ll happily come on and do whatever I can for the team. I am just happy to be putting the shirt on but this season I really want to kick on my game.”
Uefa punishes Legia Warsaw fans
Legia Warsaw have been fined €100,000 (£86,100) and banned from selling tickets for the club’s next five away European matches following disturbances before the Europa Conference League match at Aston Villa.
Almost 50 people were arrested following violence involving the visiting fans prior to kick-off at Villa Park on 30 November, with missiles thrown at police as the Polish club’s supporters were held in a coach park near the ground before they were due to enter the stadium.
West Midlands Police said four officers were injured and, although the game started on time, no Legia fans were allowed in ahead of kick-off.
Villa also accused Legia officials of a “complete lack of cooperation” with themselves, the police and Uefa.
Following a review of the incident, Uefa’s control, ethics and disciplinary body took stern action against the Polish club for crowd disturbances, acts of damage, throwing of objects and lighting of fireworks.
As well as the financial sanction and ticket sales ban, Legia have also been ordered to contact Villa within 30 days for the settlement of the damages caused by supporters, which included broken high fences and a broken lighting pole.
Elsewhere, the French club Lens have been handed a €30,000 (£25,800) fine and a suspended ban from selling tickets to their next away European game following disturbances in the Champions League match at Arsenal on 29 November, which also saw supporters damage 50 seats.
Liverpool will again be without Alexis Mac Allister in Belgium as the midfielder recovers from the knee injury he suffered in the recent win at Sheffield United. Klopp believes the Argentina World Cup winner will again be absent when Manchester United visit Anfield on Sunday.
The Liverpool manager said: “It is obviously a bit more tricky than we thought in the first moment. The other boy [Sheffield United’s Vinícius Souza] stepped on his knee and the stud went through pretty much the muscle on to the bone. Now we have to wait until the bone is healed and until Macca can deal with the pain, because it is pretty painful.
“Macca is a super-tough guy so we have probably to make sure just from an infection point of view that nothing happens. That’s really important. I never had this injury for one of my players before but now we have it. I hope it will not take that long. I would like to say it’s day by day but that would look like he could maybe play the next game and he will not be ready for that as well. I hope the next three or four days he makes big steps and then we will see.”
