Liverpool continue their defence of the Carabao Cup as they take on Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday.
The Reds are the competition’s record winners and having won the trophy twice since 2022 will have designs on doing so once again.
Liverpool have been given an injury boost in the lead-up to the game, with reports that Federico Chiesa and Conor Bradley could be fit to face Brighton.
Chiesa and Bradley are two of five members of the Liverpool squad who missed Sunday’s trip to Arsenal.
Diogo Jota is another, although it currently looks unlikely that the Portuguese forward will be fit and ready to travel to the South Coast. Meanwhile, Alisson Becker is definitely still out.
The final player of the crocked quintet is Harvey Elliott, who has still played just once under Arne Slot. And as it comes up to two months since the 21-year-old’s injury, he still looks a little way off a return.
Harvey Elliott recovery taking longer than expected
It had originally been reported that Elliott would be back towards the end of October.
However, with just days of that very month remaining, there is no sign of the No.19 returning.
With other injuries in attack and with an already thinning midfield, Liverpool could really do with Elliott just at the moment.
But according to journalist David Lynch, it could still be a ‘couple more weeks’ before the England U21 international is fit again.
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Speaking to Anfield Agenda, Lynch reported that Elliott’s recovery is unfortunately taking longer than had been expected.
“Elliott, maybe a couple more weeks away now which is maybe slightly slower than was expected,” said the journalist.
“But I think they’re just being extra careful, they don’t want a rebreak there.”
Liverpool take right approach with Harvey Elliott
Although it is frustrating for Elliott to miss so much football, the Liverpool coaching staff are taking the right approach with him here.
Elliott was not a starter during the early part of the season when he was fit, but he’s still an important player within the squad.
Given the slight struggles of Dominik Szoboszlai in the more advanced midfield role, it’s likely that Harvey would have been given plenty of minutes had he been fit over the last six weeks.
That will remain that case moving forward and everything possible should be done to ensure Elliott is completely ready to return when he eventually does so.
It sounds like it may be a little longer before we see the little diamond back in action, but he’s usually worth the wait.
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