Harvey Elliott sets new Europa League record during Sparta Prague victory

Harvey Elliott set a new Europa League record during Liverpool's 5-1 victory over Sparta Prague on Thursday evening. 

Jurgen Klopp fielded a surprisingly strong lineup at the epet Arena given that Liverpool face Manchester City on Sunday, with the Reds coming out as rampant winners in an end-to-end affair.

Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring from the penalty spot, with Darwin Nunez bagging a wonderful brace before half-time to put Liverpool firmly in control of the tie.

Conor Bradley reduced the deficit for Sparta by turning into his own net with his first touch shortly after the restart, but strikes from Luis Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai mean that the Reds have a four-goal cushion ahead of the last 16 return leg next Thursday.

Liverpool often found themselves exposed at the back and almost certainly should have conceded more than one in Prague, but their attacking display was fantastic from start to finish.

While he didn't get his name on the scoresheet, the indefatigable Harvey Elliott was a chief creator for the Reds, securing a hat-trick of assists in the Czech Republic.

According to Opta, Elliott became the first Englishman to manage three assists in Europa League history, a pretty impressive feat for the 20-year-old.

Not only this, Elliott also became the first Englishman to register a hat-trick of assists in any major European competition since James Milner did so for Liverpool against Spartak Moscow in 2017.

Milner managed to set up three teammates during the 7-0 demolition of the Russian side in 2017/18 en route to the final, managing the tally despite only coming off the bench moments before half-time.

Elliott has been in delightful form in recent weeks, with the young midfielder having registered a goal and five assists since the beginning of February.

The former Fulham man has played a ridiculous amount of football in recent weeks as he covers for injuries, and has been on the pitch for 454 minutes in the last 17 days - a little over five matches.

Elliott is likely to be given a rest against Man City on Sunday, although he has often been utilised effectively from the bench by Klopp this season.