Liverpool star a injury doubt to face Leeds United - he started against Chelsea before intl. duty

Harvey Elliott has been withdrawn from the England U21 squad as a precaution and will be assessed and treated further by Liverpool, reports James Pearce.

Insecurities are creeping in among supporters as Roberto Firmino and Takumi Minamino were the first to suffer injuries and now Elliott seems to have picked up an issue of his own.

While I don't want to be the one to say 'I told you so', it was blindingly obvious all summer that Liverpool's attacking ranks were paper thin and at risk of being exposed to an injury crisis.

We're not quite at that point but should Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota or Sadio Mane be ruled out for any period of time, panic will set in among fans.

We saw what happened last season when Jota was ruled out for 19 games and that was when Firmino was fit but now, with the Brazilian missing with an injury of his own, Liverpool will be worried about what will happen should the front three pick up an injury in the next month.

Fixtures are about to get more intense as well, with the first Champions League game of the season set to take place on Wednesday before domestic cup competitions get underway.

James Pearce reports: "The 18-year-old attacking midfielder picked up a minor muscle injury in the recent 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Anfield and wasn’t deemed fit enough to feature for Lee Carsley’s side against Kosovo in the Euros qualifier at MK Dons on Tuesday night.

"The Athletic understands that it’s only a precautionary measure and the hope is that he will recover in time to feature against Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday. He will be assessed and monitored by the club’s medical staff in the coming days."

There has been debate on social media recently over what Elliott's role in the Liverpool squad really is. Is he a midfielder? Is he a forward?

Whether Klopp views the 18-year-old as a replacement for Gini Wijnaldum or as a replacement for Xherdan Shaqiri, it leaves a gap either in midfield or in attack.

Elliott is a doubt to face Leeds this weekend after being withdrawn from the England U21 squad but as the move from Liverpool to withdraw him was precautionary, the hope is that there isn't an injury to contend with long-term.