Reds prodigy Elliott could be Salah's long-term successor

Harvey Elliott is slowly but surely becoming an important player for Liverpool.

With nearly 100 appearances for the club at the age of 20, the gifted midfielder has been in and around the first team for some time now.

And he has made further strides forward this season — starting 15 times across all competitions, while regularly impressing as a substitute in the Premier League.

Ahead of Liverpool's clash with Brentford, we take a closer look at Elliott's eye-catching performances in recent weeks.

Salah successor

Elliott's quality was on show in last weekend's 3-1 win over Burnley.

The youngster was introduced as a second-half substitute and quickly made an impact, providing the cross for Luis Diaz to score Liverpool's second goal.

He followed that with a perfectly-weighted delivery into the path of Darwin Nunez, who guided his header into the top corner to put the game beyond the Clarets.

Largely operating on the right side of the pitch, Elliott's cameo was more evidence of his potential ability to fill the void left by Mohamed Salah.

The 31-year-old Egyptian is set to return from injury imminently but will not be at the club forever.

Elliott, capable of playing both as a central midfielder and out wide, has shown signs of being able to grow into a similar role.

He will need more goals and assists — but his development will have provided some much-needed optimism for fans facing a future without Jurgen Klopp and Salah with understandable apprehension.

Making a mark

Though Elliott has been restricted to just 561 minutes of Premier League action this season, his numbers are impressive.

No Liverpool player has completed more passes into the final third per 90 (19.41).

Elliott does more than his fair share off the ball too, ranking first in the team for possessions won in the attacking third per 90 (1.44).

His contributions have not gone unnoticed by Klopp.

In his pre-match news conference, the Reds boss said: "Young players go through different moments in early days of their career — flying, not flying, working hard — not him but all young players in general.

"Harvey has been incredibly important and I'm sure he knows that. He probably wishes to have started every game but when he has come on he is brilliant, when he has started it's not the same.

"But he's young — it's not like he'll be a supersub for the rest of his career.

"He is a joy to work with. It is absolutely exceptional how he has trained this week."

Big ambitions

The next challenge for Elliott will be to break into the starting XI, though that is easier said than done given the quality in the Reds' squad.

After the Burnley victory, he said: "It's part of the journey. I want to be starting and that's my goal — I want to get back in the team and cement my spot.

"But I'm just more than happy getting on the pitch first and foremost, whether it's off the bench or starting.

"It's down to me to try to make a difference — that's why I'm coming on, that's my role in the team, that's why I'm here today."

Another impactful performance at Brentford will take Elliott a step closer to his goals.