Arne Slot confirmed on Friday that Harvey Elliott has suffered a fractured foot, news which had broken in the media earlier this week.
Gregg Evans of The Athletic reports that Elliott aggravated an existing issue whilst away with the England u21s this month, and further assessments with Liverpool confirmed a fracture. James Pearce confirmed that Elliott will miss at least a month.
But it could be longer. Paul Joyce of The Times reports that Elliott will be sidelined until late October, and foot fractures usually do require at least six weeks out.
That puts Elliott participation against Arsenal next month in doubt. Six weeks takes us to October 25th, just two days before Liverpool travel to the Emirates Stadium on October 27th.
Even if Elliott returns on time, he’d have just days to get up to speed before the Arsenal match. If he takes even a week longer than expected to get back to fitness, he’ll be ruled out.
Elliott hasn’t been a starter for Liverpool in the early weeks of the season anyway, but he did play particularly well against Arsenal in pre-season.
For now, Elliott is the only Liverpool player who might miss the Arsenal match, with Curtis Jones and Federico Chiesa expected to be fit and available by next week at the latest. The rest of Slot’s squad are already fully fit.