Liverpool face Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on Sunday as they aim to reach the fifth round.
The Reds booked their place in the Carabao Cup final on Thursday and will be keen to follow that up with another success at the weekend.
Given that Liverpool have slightly bigger fish to fry this season, Arne Slot is expected to field a rotated XI at Home Park, with one eye on Wednesday’s meeting with Everton.
That is set to open the door to some fringe members of the Liverpool squad who will be desperate to make the most of a rare, extended outing.
There are a number who need a good performance at Plymouth in order to get some rhythm going and stake their place for more regular minutes.
Arguably, though, no player needs a big display in the FA Cup more than Harvey Elliott.
Harvey Elliott must take FA Cup opportunity
It has been an incredibly frustrating season to date for Elliott. After hitting 46 and then 53 appearances in the past two seasons, the 21-year-old has played just 15 times in 2024/25.
That has in part been down to injury, of course. Elliott would have played more had he not been ruled out for almost three months at the start of the season.
However, since he came back to fitness in November, the England U21 international has only started three times.
On fully six occasions, Elliott has sat on the bench for the full game. In four more he has played less than five minutes.
Across last weekend’s win over Bournemouth and the thrashing of Tottenham on Thursday, Elliott got eight minutes on the pitch.
Surely set to start on Sunday, Harvey needs to show why he deserves more minutes in the biggest games this season. Fail to do that, and he’ll be in a bad position heading into the Spring.
Why is Harvey Elliott not playing for Liverpool?
Throughout his career at Liverpool, Elliott has rarely been a nailed-on starter. With Dominik Szoboszlai in good form as well, there is no shame in not getting in this team.
However, it’s also true that Elliott has not quite been doing enough when he’s had the chances under Slot.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | |
| Premier League | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Champions League | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Carabao Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 |
He scored in back-to-back Champions League games against Lille and PSV Eindhoven, but his performance among a very young team in Eindhoven was disappointing.
Slot thinks Elliott is ‘talented‘ but it was James McConnell who stood out in the Liverpool midfield that day, outshining his older colleague in most aspects.
A performance in a similar mould from Elliott against Plymouth would do nothing to persuade Slot that he is underused. Run the show as he’s capable of doing, though, and the tide could still turn for Harvey. A big day. Go and smash it, Harv!
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