Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has expressed his 'regret' over Harvey Elliott's serious injury sustained at Elland Road this afternoon.
The 18-year-old was stretchered off the pitch shortly after the hour mark following a strong challenge from Leeds defender Pascal Struijk.
Struijk was introduced in the 36th minute of the game to replace the injured Diego Llorente but saw his afternoon ended early when shown a straight red card for his tackle on Elliott.
READ MORE: Harvey Elliott suffers serious injury during Leeds vs Liverpool
Bielsa was full of support for the Liverpool teenager when speaking after the match and insisted that he believes Struijk meant no harm with his tackle.
"I regret dearly that the opponent's player had to leave the game. I am 100% sure that Pascal [Struijk] did not have a bad intention," he told Sky Sports.
He added: "These types of (tackle) are totally frequent. I regret dearly that such a young player playing at such a high level has been interrupted."
Leeds were very much second-best for the majority of the contest, with Jurgen Klopp's side piling on the pressure from the first minute.
Mohamed Salah, Fabinho and Sadio Mane were all on the scoresheet for the Reds, though plenty of other chances were scuppered throughout the game.
Bielsa had no complaints about the result and acknowledged that Liverpool were worthy winners.
"The result was fair. We weren't in charge very often in the game. They were superior to us in all aspects of the game," he said.
"When we lost the ball, they would create danger. When we were in conditions to cause danger, we didn't. In that dynamic, it was clearly favourable to Liverpool."
