Liverpool Loan Watch: Takumi Minamino On The Mark Again

Takumi Minamino seems to be taking to life on the south coast of England. Deployed nominally as a winger for Jürgen Klopp cosplayer Ralph Hasenhüttl, Minamino found the back of the net against Chelsea. It was the second goal in three games for the Japanese attacking player since moving to Southampton on loan.

The move started with Minamino drifting into space between the center backs to receive a perfectly weighted through ball from Nathan Redmond. There was still quite a bit of work to do as Minamino drove with the ball into the box. With the ball on his right foot, he faked a shot to send both César Azpilicueta and Édouard Mendy sprawling before calmly slotting the ball home.

While Minamino is getting amongst the goals, it seems he still has work to do as a creator. He only completed 65% of his 29 passes, and was 0-4 on crosses.

Speaking of being a creator, Harvey Elliott added another assist to his tally after coming off the bench in a mid-week game against Barnsley. He is now up to 9 assists on the season, and is a co-leader in the Championship. The youngster received an outlet pass as he broke towards midfield, and drilled a beautiful ball with the outside of his left boot for Adam Armstrong to run onto.

In his game at the weekend, Elliott went the full 90, and was again the creative hub for Blackburn. As usual, he led the team with key passes (shot assists) with 4, and also connected on 2 of 6 crosses.

With Liverpool struggling to score goals, it’s nice to see their premier on-loan players producing at least.