Arne Slot explains why he changed Harvey Elliott’s position during Liverpool’s Carabao Cup win over Southampton

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Liverpool defeated Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday to advance into the semi-finals.

The Reds are looking good to defend the trophy they won under Jurgen Klopp last season and will now face Arsenal, Newcastle, Tottenham or Man United in the last four.

It was a slightly strange evening for Liverpool to book their place within that quartet at St Mary’s, however.

Arne Slot was serving a touchline ban for picking up three yellow cards this season and as a result Sipke Hulshoff was his man in the technical area.

Nevertheless, Slot was still calling the shots in what was a heavily rotated team featuring a number of interesting youngsters from the Liverpool academy.

In the end, it was a young player who stole the show, but one who has done so plenty of times for Liverpool in the past. And seeing him put in a goal-scoring turn, Slot explained the nuances behind his use of Harvey Elliott on the South Coast.

Arne Slot explains Harvey Elliott change

Elliott has barely played any football so far this season. In fact, Wednesday night represented his first start under Slot. Safe to say, it was a good one.

Elliott earned praise for his well-taken goal, and the 21-year-old was generally bright from the right of the Liverpool attack.

Not willing to risk Federico Chiesa from the start and clearly wanting to protect Mohamed Salah, Slot picked Elliott in his slightly unfavoured, more attacking role.

But with Chiesa introduced for the second-half, the former Fulham prospect returned to the midfield. And speaking in his post-match press conference, Slot suggested that Elliott looking ‘a bit bored’ on the right influenced his decision to make a change a little earlier, too.

READ MORE: Jason McAteer says Liverpool youngster ‘struggled’ in position he’s never played before against Southampton

“Harvey already had a good impact in the game at the weekend against Fulham, so it was good to see he is able to play 90 for him today and even score a goal,” said the Liverpool head coach.

“Started him off on the right, I felt he almost got a bit bored and didn’t touch the ball a lot, so after 15-20 minutes we changed his [position] and were playing him in the midfield.

“We know he is a better midfielder than he is a winger, but we had to do it like this. So that was pleasing to see.”

Elliott happy in ‘easier’ forward role

Elliott has become slightly underrated at Liverpool, and his versatility is a big string to his bow on nights like these.

Obviously, the No.19 is not going to give you what Salah does from the right wing, but listening to Elliott speak to LFCTV after Wednesday’s game, it sounds like he’s really working on being more effective when he’s picked there.

“From that ten position, it’s areas that I play in for England, I’m always trying to get forward and make that forward run,” he says.

“I think last season playing in that eight role is a bit harder because you’re a bit further back. Being a bit more forwards I need to get in the box more and make those forward runs.

“It was a great pass from Cody and it was just about me steadying myself, making sure I got a good connection and happily it went it.”

With Elliott now fit and firing, he’s already making an impact in the Liverpool squad.