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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Liverpool coach heaps praise on Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch ahead of Bournemouth clash

Liverpool midfielders Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch have hit new heights in recent weeks, according to Pep Lijnders.

Jurgen Klopp's assistant coach was speaking ahead of the Carabao Cup trip to Bournemouth on Wednesday, which will see the Reds face a tricky selection call over who to rest and who to play.

Gravenberch has started the last three Liverpool games in a row after breaking into the team with his performances in the cup competitions, while Elliott is pushing to make his mark having impressed Lijnders in training.

"I said to Harvey two or three weeks ago, I never have seen him this good in training," the Dutchman told reporters.

"He wasn't playing at the time, that's why I spoke to him. He's really consistent in his performance, he acts more like a senior than you think, like Curtis [Jones].

"He has that sort of character. He makes an impact, he is a player who between the lines has to create, make the final pass, arrive and score. He's a really, really good player."

Netherlands midfielder Gravenberch was gradually introduced into the Liverpool team after a deadline-day move from Bayern Munich and is now hitting top form at Anfield.

"We are seeing the Ryan of Ajax," added Lijnders. "That's why the club is so important, a player who doesn't play will never get confident. We know that a player without confidence is not the same.

"I'm not sure what happened at Bayern, he comes here, with full trust, then we knew with training, good conversations and showing the idea with the clarity of the whole group that we have a special player.

"His vision, his touch, Ryan has everything to be an No8 like that; he arrives, shoots and has a mentality to score. Thank you [to our] scouts and I like it when the squad is a bit more orange."

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