Harvey Elliott‘s frustrating spell at Aston Villa continues, but he wasn’t the only Liverpool loanee left out of a matchday squad.
When Elliott joined Villa on a loan with an obligation to buy after 10 appearances, the hope was that it would be invaluable for his development.
Instead, the 22-year-old has struggled to be a prominent figure under Unai Emery, and that continued on Sunday afternoon.
Elliott was left out of Villa’s squad for the trip to Leeds, which they won 2-1, with the Liverpool-linked Morgan Rogers scoring twice.
It means Elliott has still only started one Premier League game this season, making a further two appearances from the bench.
He wasn’t the only Reds loanee who played no part, however, with Vitezslav Jaros not included in Ajax’s squad that lost 2-1 at home to Excelsior.
James McConnell was named in the matchday group but watched on as an unused substitute.
John Heitinga’s recent sacking has had a knock-on effect on the Liverpool duo, who haven’t featured since mid-October and early November, respectively.
It remains to be seen if either of their spells will be cut short, in order for them to enjoy a new challenge in January.
Elsewhere, Luca Stephenson suffered a 3-0 home defeat with Dundee United against Falkirk in the Scottish Premiership, playing the whole 90 minutes.
For Kostas Tsimikas, it was a successful afternoon, in terms of his Roma side winning 3-1 at Cremonese in Serie A.
That said, he only came on after 80 minutes, and he hasn’t completed a full 90 for his club side since September.
It was a weekend full of cameos rather than star turns for Liverpool, with Lewis Koumas introduced in stoppage time in Birmingham’s 4-1 win at home to Norwich.
Owen Beck‘s spell at Blackburn ended prematurely earlier this week due to injury, as Rovers manager John Eustace confirmed.
• READ: Liverpool loan terminated: Left-back faces 4-month layoff after surgery
“Unfortunately, Owen has had to have surgery on his hamstring, so he’s going to be out for the next three or four months,” Eustace said.
“I feel really sorry for Becky, and obviously, I had worked with him at Blackburn.
“Bringing him to the football club was a real success from the recruitment side, especially to bring a player of that quality here and to be able to showcase him.
“Over the course of the season I think everyone was excited about that, but unfortunately he’s had a really difficult time.
“We all feel sorry for the boy, but it’s all part of his learning and his development. He’ll come back stronger, but it’s not going to be with us.”
Liverpool loanee roundup
Injured: Harvey Davies, Isaac Mabaya, James Balagizi
Unused: Harvey Elliott, Vitezslav Jaros, James McConnell
Source link
Add Comment