Liverpool has a new super-sub that has already made a huge impact this season, and he could be set for a big opportunity against LASK in the Europa League.
During his Liverpool career, striker Divock Origi scored 12 goals off the bench, ranking him fourth on the club’s all-time list alongside winger Ryan Babel.
All of those came under Jürgen Klopp, and there are a few that stand out as the most memorable. There was, of course, the bizarre stoppage-time winner against Everton in December 2018, the header away to Newcastle five minutes from time the following May to snatch a 3-2 victory and keep the title race alive, and the game-sealing strike late in the Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur.
Origi left Liverpool when his contract expired at the end of the 2021/22 season, having produced one last act of substitute heroism by stealing three points in the 94th minute against Wolves in December.
The Belgian was the quintessential super-sub, and Liverpool didn’t really find a worthy successor for that mantle in his absence last year. At the end of February, we noted that no Liverpool player had netted off the bench in more than two competitive games.
This year, though, Klopp may have found a match-winner of a different sort in his reserve ranks. Harvey Elliott isn’t necessarily likely to find the net himself, but he’s made a significant impact despite falling down the pecking order in the wake of Liverpool’s summer spending spree.
Elliott, who started 18 Premier League games last season, has had to be content with cameos in each of the first five this term, averaging 25 minutes per match and playing just 27.3 per cent of the Reds’ football in total. He’s the only player to come on in every fixture, and of only two to make more than two substitute appearances (alongside Darwin Núñez — four).
Already, though, Liverpool has gained five points following the introduction of Elliott, coming from behind to beat Newcastle last month and then scoring twice late on to defeat Wolves on Saturday. In all, Klopp’s side has out-scored the opposition by four goals in the youngster’s 123 minutes on the pitch, which works out as +2.93 per 90.
And this is no coincidence — it was Elliott who won the ball back to launch the attack that led to Núñez’s winner at St James’ Park, and it was Elliott who made sure of the points at Molineux with a deflected strike from the edge of the area.
The numbers illustrate his prominence in only brief outings. He’s recorded more touches (64) than Curtis Jones (62), who’s started two games, and completed more passes (51) than Cody Gakpo (49), who’s started four. Among Liverpool’s midfielders, only Dominik Szoboszlai has made more carries into the final third (four vs three), received more progressive passes (20 vs eight) and had more shots (10 vs four).
It is worth noting that games do tend to become more stretched in the closing stages, affording players like Elliott more space in which to operate, while in Saturday’s clash with Wolves, Liverpool had pinned back the opposition and was dominating possession, making it easier to get on the ball than it was in the first half. But on the flip side, it should be said that Elliott has twice been introduced when Liverpool has been down to 10 men, and still distinguished himself.
Of course, the 20-year-old will desperately want to be starting games and will feel he’s earned the right based on these displays, however brief.
The good news for him, though, is that he looks nailed-on for Thursday’s Europa League opener away to LASK, with Klopp set to rotate his side. Impress there, and his manager may well reward him with a first start of the season against West Ham next weekend.
