Liverpool head coach Arne Slot saluted the creative spark provided by Harvey Elliott after Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-1 in a pre-season friendly in Philadelphia.
The England Under-21 international assisted both goals for Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho as Slot’s side made it two wins out of two on their tour of the United States.
Elliott, who flourished in the No 10 role, would have had a hat-trick of first half assists but for Diogo Jota firing against the post from close range.
“They were two great assists but what I believe is that the team created this for him as well,” Slot said.
“Playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions. Then it was up to Harvey to bring the most out of those situations and he did that today with two assists.
“If I am a bit hard on him, I think there were maybe two other situations where he could have done better but he showed his quality.”
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There was the welcome sight of forward Diogo Jota making his first appearance of pre-season as he got 45 minutes under his belt.
After Kai Havertz pulled one back for Arsenal before the break, a youthful Liverpool team had to defend resolutely in the second half to protect their narrow lead.
“Diogo looked sharp and I think it helps to have someone who naturally plays in that position,” Slot added.
“Although Arsenal went man v man all over the place, it helps if you have a striker who is smart, makes the deep runs and knows when to use the ball.
“I would have preferred to have kept the same style as the first half but we had to change a lot of players who have played a lot of minutes for us. A lot of youngsters did really well defensively but we couldn’t keep pressing them as high as we did the first half. Arsenal dominated possession in the second half but we got bodies behind the ball.
“You can see the American fans love us playing here and we love playing here as well, especially if the results keep going like this for us. We are heading in the right direction.”
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(John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
