If you had to name the two Liverpool players who have been in the squad for all 31 games they have played so far in 2022/23, the answers would not be obvious. Granted, 22 different members of Jurgen Klopp’s squad have missed matches through injury or illness but identifying those who haven’t isn’t straightforward.
The ever-present players in squad terms are Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez. The latter has been an unused substitute on six occasions, though, whereas the young midfielder has taken part in every single match. Elliott has started 20 games and been the first (or joint-first) change from the bench a further six times.
Only at Arsenal was he the final substitute, illustrating Klopp is happy to have him on the pitch as often as realistically possible. But how big an achievement is this by the former Fulham youngster?
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After all, the aforementioned injury problems have plagued the club this season. The Reds’ top six men for games missed include Arthur Melo (who has been absent for 21), Naby Keita (20), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones (both 14), any of whom might have taken Elliott’s spot in midfield at times.
There’s also the much-discussed recruitment issues to consider. Aside from Arthur’s loan, Elliott is the most recent addition to Klopp’s options in the centre of the team. If the veterans had been phased out more swiftly with new signings, Liverpool’s number 19 would probably have received fewer opportunities.
Not that he can concern himself with that. When given the chance to play, Elliott has to make the most of it and he often has. Only three Liverpool players have scored more goals in 2022/23 and he recently bagged a winner at Wolves and an opener at Brighton.
Similarly, while he needs to be more creative, only four players in the Premier League are averaging more completed passes into opposition penalty boxes per 90 minutes (per FBRef). Five of the six clear-cut chances Elliott has created have come from through balls or deliveries into the box from outside it, and he was set up for his strike at the Amex by Mohamed Salah in the same fashion. Forming a strong connection with the Egyptian will inevitably result in more goal contributions.
Elliott’s achievement at featuring in every match needs to be put into context. Opta have just launched a Power Rankings model, which uses an Elo system to establish the strength of every club side in the world.
By their reckoning, the Reds are currently the third best team, behind Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Many people will scoff at that standing in light of how they’ve played this season but a team’s score is built over time and Liverpool did come very close to winning an unprecedented quadruple last year.
Opta have also looked at the minutes played at top 100 ranked clubs in 2022 by players who were aged 21-or-under at the start of last year. Reds’ transfer target Jude Bellingham is among them, though there is no sign of Elliott as he didn’t feature too often in the second half of last season after returning from serious injury.
He has few equals if we look at 2022/23 alone, and that includes if we focus purely upon Opta’s top 10 teams. As well as the aforementioned trio, this group includes Arsenal, RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain, Internazionale and Napoli from Italy, Barcelona and Real Madrid from Spain. Among these clubs, Elliott is ranked 79th for percentage of minutes played.
But if we look at those men who were no more than 21-years-old last August when the campaign got underway, the Liverpool midfielder is ranked 11th. Focus on current teenagers for the sake of argument and only Jamal Musiala has more league minutes, with Alejandro Balde and Gavi having a slightly higher proportion of playing time.
With how this season is going, Liverpool’s standing among the elite clubs could easily fall. Wherever they sit, they mustn’t lose sight of the young gem they have in Elliott. He has few peers in his age group when it comes to regularly representing one of the top sides in the world.
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