Liverpool star ready to RETURN to play perfect role in Arne Slot's new team

One Liverpool star looks ready to return to the club. He's now a perfect fit for Arne Slot's new-look team.

Liverpool have finally made a tactical shift this season. They've moved away from the 4-2-3-1 system for the first time under Arne Slot, putting out a 4-4-2 diamond in their last two games.

Though, the diamond was far more obvious against Inter than it was against Leeds United. In fact, we had to take Slot's word for it that the formation against Leeds was actually supposed to be a diamond.

But it's clear that Slot wants to try something new. It's led to him dropping Mo Salah from the team, operating without traditional wingers and instead packing the middle.

Do they have the players for this, however? One issue is that with four centre-midfielders in the team, it risks exhausting their entire group of options there.

Maybe, though, there's a returning player who can help with that.

Harvey Elliott's difficult loan

Harvey Elliott was sent on loan to Aston Villa this season in what, in an ideal world, was supposed to be the end of his time with Liverpool. The plan was for him to succeed there in a big way, comfortably justifying Villa’s buy option and moving there permanently in 2026.

That almost certainly will not happen. The Athletic report that Villa are trying to send him back to Liverpool after Emery publicly admitted that they aren’t planning on triggering that option.

Which is quite crazy, given that buy option is automatically triggered after 10 appearances. Villa, it seems, are willing to sit Elliott on the bench for the rest of the season to avoid paying it.

Now, that’s a disaster of a loan but maybe it has a silver lining. In fact, maybe it ends up better for Elliott this way.

Liverpool, after all, are far more suited to the playmaker than they were last season. His only real role in the side in 2024/25 was as an attacking midfielder - he lacks the pace to be a winger like Mo Salah and the size to be an out-and-out centre-midfielder.

It’s why the change in formation suits him. Liverpool now don’t use a winger and instead want a wide midfielder who can tuck inside and create.

Dominik Szoboszlai has been playing that very well, though Liverpool may prefer him in a more central role - or even from the left. Elliott may not be an immediate starter as a wide midfielder but it is his natural position.

He likes to peel off the flank and find space between the lines. He’s well-suited to operating against packed defences, too, and Elliott’s performances have always been better than people think.

We think he might be an ideal fit for what Liverpool are trying to do right now. So perhaps this failed Villa move is actually what Elliott needed to finally secure a spot with the Reds.

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