Why Harvey Elliott has struggled at Aston Villa – “A very strange case”

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from This is Anfield or go back to LFC Live.

On Saturday night, Liverpool welcome Villa to Anfield, with Unai Emery’s side outlining their credentials with a 1-0 win at home to Man City last weekend. How happy are you with Aston Villa’s start to the season?

Harvey Elliott is obviously a highly talented player, but the role he played at Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool doesn’t really exist within Villa’s system. If they can repeat their City display in the tough Anfield atmosphere and give Liverpool’s central players little space to work in, Villa could have some joy as a defensive unit and look for moments to exploit space which opens for counter-attacks.

If Liverpool leave space behind when they press high against Villa’s ball-playing defenders, players like Morgan Rogers, and possibly Jadon Sancho, could cause problems. Cody Gakpo or Ekitike cutting in from the Liverpool left against Cash is another area to watch, with Villa’s right-back likely to need support from Kamara to stop those runs inside.