Curtis Jones thinks 20-year-old Liverpool youngster could be about to get his big chance

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Curtis Jones thinks there could now be an opening in the first-team at Liverpool.

Jones has been brilliant lately, cementing his place as part of Jurgen Klopp’s best XI at Liverpool right now. According to Alan Shearer, the 22-year-old is now playing his best ever football.

Jones’ rise is testament to the work done to bring young players through and give them a chance in the Reds’ senior side. Another of those is Harvey Elliott.

And speaking to liverpoolfc.com alongside Elliott yesterday, Jones claimed that his younger teammate could now be set for a run in the team.

“I think I saw [Jamie] Carragher saying about him being a super-sub,” the Scouser commented. “That’s good and Harvey has influenced games off the bench, but he is one of those that the more he plays, the better he becomes, whether that’s starting or off the bench.

“In his mind now, the more starts he gets, the better he will play. Mo [Salah] has gone as well [to the Africa Cup of Nations], so the right-hand side has opened up even more for him. Now he’s able to play as a half-space No.8 or off the right, he can play on the left, he can play as a No.10. He’s a gifted lad and he’s shown that definitely.”

Elliott ready for starting chance

As Jones alludes to, it isn’t as though Elliott hasn’t had a sniff this season. With 26 appearances in all competitions, only Darwin Nunez (29) and Mohamed Salah (27) have featured more than the youngster.

But only two of those games have been Premier League starts.

In fairness, Elliott has been trusted implicitly in every other competition. He’s began all ten of Liverpool’s cup games across three competitions during this campaign.

That shows that Klopp is a massive fan of Harvey. He’s just not quite made the jump to consistently starting in the big games just yet.

With Salah now going though – and injuries tearing through the squad – Liverpool’s No.19 should get his chance.

The first sign of that was a start at the Emirates on Sunday. Although Elliott began the game in Salah’s favoured wide left position, he showed his versatility by dropping into midfield for the second-half.

That ability to play in a number of positions is incredibly helpful to a squad that’s now stretched so thin.

So, Harvey will get his opportunities over the next weeks. It’s down to him to prove that he deserves more of them once everyone’s available once again.