If you were to ask Tyler Morton, he is likely to insist his appearance in Wednesday night’s League Cup win over Brighton & Hove Albion was well worth the wait.
After all, it was the 22-year-old’s first competitive start in the competition for the Reds since December 2021; a night when Jurgen Klopp’s side completed one of the most dramatic comebacks of his Anfield tenure by knocking Leicester City out of the same competition at the quarter-final stage.
On that particular night, Morton, making just the fifth start of his Liverpool career, saw his youthful spirit partnered alongside the more experienced figures of Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
However, the Wirral-born midfielder only lasted 45 minutes before he was replaced by James Milner, with the Reds 2-0 down and Klopp looking to ring the changes in the hope of mounting a comeback.
And that soon proved to be the case, as goals from Oxlade-Chamberlain, Diogo Jota and a last-gasp effort from Takumi Minamino took the game to a penalty shoot-out where Liverpool eventually got the better of the Foxes after eight successful spot kicks.
But on the South Coast on Wednesday night, it’s fair to say Morton’s first competitive start for the Reds in 1,025 days was less chaotic than his last.
And that was broadly down the calming influence he was able to bring to the engine room on a night when Arne Slot made wholesale changes.
There was much to like about Morton’s performance, particularly his ability to shift the ball quickly and effectively on a night when Liverpool lined up without a recognised striker.
In fact, it was largely the England under-21 international’s duty to pick out the supporting runs of Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo as they attempted to break beyond the Brighton back four.
And despite continually probing the last line of the Seagulls’ defence, Morton departed the field just after the hour mark having completed 82 per cent of his attempted passes.
One of those, of course, was for the game’s opening goal when his cute clipped pass into the channel arrived in the stride of Gakpo, with the Dutchman subsequently cutting inside and firing past Jason Steele to put Slot’s team on course for a third quarter-final appearance since 2021. Morton’s delight was palpable at that point as he made a beeline to the Reds’ No.18.
It goes without saying that it had the potential to be a challenging couple of months for Morton, who established himself as one of the brightest midfield prospects in the country during back-to-back loan spells with Blackburn Rovers and Hully City in recent seasons.
In fact, his spells in the Championship were so impressive that reigning Bundesliga champions and Europa League finalist Bayer Leverkusen saw a season-long loan bid rejected for the midfielder in August.
However, only a matter of weeks after Liverpool decided to let Stefan Bajcetic depart Anfield on a temporary base instead, Morton found himself turning out for the club’s under-21s side in wins against Derby County, Arsenal and Manchester United as he waited for his first real opportunity under Slot.
Needless to say, the idea of missing out on a move to a European giant – managed by your idol, Xabi Alonso, no less – only to find yourself playing in the Premier League 2 just weeks later is a distorted reality that few young pros would have dealt with as impeccably as Morton.
But to his credit, the midfielder, one of eight changes at the Amex Stadium, stayed patient and allowed his football to do the talking on a night when he clearly caught the eye of the new Liverpool head coach.
“To come away from here with a result and a win is, of course, very pleasing,” said Slot in his post-match press conference. “For the long term, I really liked what I saw from players who haven’t played that much this season yet.
“They were able to play a similar style to what we usually do and they brought quality into the game, so that makes it even harder for me to make line-ups in the upcoming weeks.”
Now, as Liverpool’s season continues to prosper on four fronts, Slot will be able to use the depth at his disposal ahead of his side’s run of 14 games between Saturday and December 29.
Ironically, that could hand Morton an opportunity at Anfield next Tuesday when Leverkusen visit in the Champions League.
And based on Wednesday night’s performance, don’t be surprised if Morton has the Bundesliga side ruing what could have been theirs.
