THREE AND EASIER

Elliott looks on the bright side of the epic defeat at Old Trafford and says it will give Reds more freedom to chase a treble

HARVEY ELLIOTT believes Liverpool’s FA Cup exit has boosted their chances of a treble.

The Kop youngster says a less congested schedule will keep the Reds fresh for an assault on the Premier League title and the Europa League, with the League Cup already safely in the Anfield trophy room.

Liverpool have already played 46 games and will have at least 12 more, including their Europa League twolegged tie with Atalanta.

That gruelling programme may have been the reason Kop stars appeared to tire badly during extra-time of the heartbreaking FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Elliott, who put Liverpool 3-2 up in extra-time (right), said after the 4-3 defeat: “Now we can focus on other things, it frees up a few weeks for us. We now don’t face quite so many games so the lads can be fresh and we can recover properly and focus on the rest of the season.” Had Liverpool reached the FA Cup semi-final, their Premier League match at Fulham on April 20 would have had to be rescheduled, and the Reds still have to find a date for a Merseyside derby.

Liverpool’s defeat at Old Trafford was only their third domestic loss of the season. Of the two they lost in Europe, one was a dead rubber against Union Saint-gilloise.

Elliott added: “Our confidence is always there so the defeat isn’t going to affect us at all. Yeah, we’re going to be annoyed that we didn’t win but we’re going away with international teams now, so we can forget about it and come back after the break fresh again ready to crack down and fight for the rest of the season.

“Confidence-wise, it’s not going to do anything to us because we had the game in our hands. We had many chances but just didn’t put them away. We just need to keep going as a team.”

Liverpool appeared to be cruising when leading Manchester United 2-1 but couldn’t grab a third goal to put the game to bed and allowed United a foothold.

Kop manager Jurgen Klopp has seen enough of his squad to be confident they will not allow Sunday’s setback to derail them.

“We’ve played football for ages and you lose games,” he said. “We all fail on a daily basis, maybe without even recognising it. We just get along with it.

“The players now go to play for their countries and I hope they come back with no injuries and then we can focus on our next game against Brighton.”

Liverpool don’t play until March 31, when they play host to Brighton. Sheffield United visit Anfield four days later before the Reds get a chance to exact revenge on United at Old Trafford, this time in the Premier League.

Then a clash at home to Crystal Palace is sandwiched by a two-legged Europa League tie against Atalanta.