Harvey Elliott has admitted Liverpool’s squad approached Sunday’s trip to Chelsea with a different mindset after clinching the Premier League title.
The Reds traveled to Stamford Bridge for the first of four matches after being crowned champions. Arne Slot made six changes to the team, handing several players rare starts and dropping some of his regulars from the campaign.
Elliott was one player who certainly benefited from the alterations and, remarkably, earned his first league start under Slot. But the 22-year-old failed to make the most of the opportunity and put in an underwhelming display from an attacking midfield role in the 3-1 loss.
In fact, the team was noticeably improved after Elliott made way for Dominik Szoboszlai late on.
Speaking after the game, Elliott admitted the team wasn’t quite as focused as in previous weeks with the title now secure, claiming the players were more “relaxed” coming into the match.
“I think it’s hard to kind of not think about what we’ve achieved this season,” the former Fulham midfielder told Liverpool’s club website.
“I think every human being in our shoes now is very relaxed, very composed and all that stress and hard work throughout the season to try to make it an achievement, we’ve now done it.
“I’d say it’s a relief but at the same time we still have three more games and we need to make sure that we put 100 percent into it.
“We need to go out and put in top performances not only for us but to show why we are champions. We need to do that again next week.”
Liverpool conceded within the first three minutes against Chelsea when Enzo Fernandez finished off a sweeping team move by placing the ball into the back of the net. A defensive mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Jarell Quansah resulted in the latter scoring an own-goal in the second half.
Van Dijk did pull one back late on from a corner, before Quansah conceded a penalty in injury time and, with the final kick of the game, Cole Palmer made it 3-1.
Reflecting on the performance, Eliott said: “I think the first half was very hard. It was hard to find the space, to create the chances. I think we had a few counter-attacks and they just fizzled out.
“But we reflected on that at half-time and I think in the second half there was a massive change. I felt like we all clicked into gear and I felt myself personally there were a few things that were going for me, a few half-chances you could say.
“But I think as a whole in the second half we were a lot better. Obviously the skipper got the goal to make it 2-1 but I think it was just a little bit too late.
“But it’s something we can reflect on throughout this week and it’s another big test again on Sunday against Arsenal to go and make it right. Let’s hope we can do that.”
