Harvey Elliott leaves stadium with a gift from NFL star after Liverpool victory over Arsenal

Liverpool is a club which has always benefited from fanatical support. The Reds’ pre-season results seem to be proving the point.

After a behind closed doors loss to Preston at the AXA Training Center, Liverpool has since beaten Real Betis and Arsenal in packed houses during its tour of the United States. The goals have been spread around the squad, with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring against the La Liga side while Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho netted in the match with the Gunners.

But the real star of the show against Arsenal was young midfielder Harvey Elliott . His performance was of such quality that he deserved the present he received from NFL star Avonte Maddox.

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The game took place at Lincoln Financial Field, the home stadium of the Philadelphia Eagles for whom Maddox plays. The 28-year-old cornerback has played six seasons in the NFL, making 64 appearances and 38 starts.

Elliott decorated his surroundings with a pair of glorious assists. The 21-year-old created all three of the Opta-defined big chances that Liverpool had, with Diogo Jota striking the post from the one which went unconverted.

The former Fulham player was a worthy man of the match. He was given a rating of 8.4 by SofaScore , 8.6 by Fotmob and eight from ourselves. This isn’t Pitchfork, we don’t need decimal points. Elliott was also given a signed shirt by Maddox, as could be seen draped over his arm when he was on his way out of the stadium.

No wonder he looked pleased with both his gift and his performance, the best delivered by a Liverpool player so far in pre-season. Elliott has spoken about the transition from Jurgen Klopp to Arne Slot and has conceded it has not been easy. He must’ve been delighted to deliver two assists for his new head coach.

"It’s very hard," he said , in reference to the changes. "You know, it's a completely different style of play, completely different style of tactics but, you know, that’s what happens in football. You need to adapt, you need to learn it."

Slot is a hard taskmaster, as his comments on Elliott’s efforts against Arsenal revealed after the match. “Two great assists. If I am a bit hard on him there were situations when we could do better,” he said. But he will have been very impressed overall, and Maddox surely was too.

Liverpool.com says: The forthcoming season should be huge for Elliott. He could very quickly become a key man for the Reds’ new boss. The midfielder was deserving of the plaudits and gift he received for his efforts in the Arsenal match.