“I felt he almost got a bit bored and didn’t touch the ball” - Arne Slot makes interesting claim on Liverpool star after Carabao Cup win

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has reacted to Harvey Elliott's performance against Southampton during their Carabao Cup quarterfinal victory on December 18. The 21-year-old attacking midfielder was on the scoresheet as his side cruised into the semifinal of the competition with a 2-1 win.

Darwin Nunez opened the scoring for the Reds in the 24th minute, before Elliott doubled the lead for Slot's men eight minutes later. Despite the home side pulling one back through Cameron Archer in the 59th minute, it wasn't enough to prevent the Reds from securing a comfortable win.

Liverpool were already the favorites to win the encounter despite manager Slot making a handful of changes to the starting XI. The likes of Wataru Endo, Trey Nyoni, Tyler Morton, Jarell Quansah, and Elliott were all handed rare starts by Slot.

However, it was the youngster, Elliott, who has had an injury-stricken season, that impressed the most during the encounter against Southampton, thanks to his 32nd-minute goal.

Elliott started the game on the right wing for Liverpool but switched into the Reds' midfield later in the game. Head coach Slot revealed after the game that his decision to change Elliott's position was due to the player being "bored" on the pitch.

In his words, after the game, he said (via TBR Football):

"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. 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.”

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"We fought as a team" - Liverpool star reacts to side's victory against Southampton

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder was proud of his side's performance away to Southampton in the quarterfinal of the Carabao Cup.

Elliott, who scored Liverpool's second on the night, was among a host of surprise faces to be included in the starting XI by manager Slot. The youngster, however, revealed that he was thankful his teammates did what was expected at the Saint Mary's Stadium.

In his words, via the club's official website after the game, he said:

“Just like that, really. They caused us a fair few problems. We came into this game, especially with the circumstances that Southampton are going through, we knew they were going to come out fighting and we had to be ready for that.

He added:

“I feel like for a team that we put out there today – some of us haven’t played much this season, we had really young lads as well – we fought as a team and thankfully we can come away with the win.”