Liverpool Loan Watch: January 2021

Welcome to the fifth instalment in the 2020/21 loan watch series. This is the third year I have run the loan watch – a series of monthly articles analysing all of Liverpool’s out-on-loan players. Recent years have seen the likes of Ovie Ejaria, Harry Wilson, Herbie Kane, Marko Grujic, Taiwo Awoniyi, Rhian Brewster, Ryan Kent and Kamil Grabara all have successful spells, and the club will be hoping for more fruitful loan periods from its eleven loanees this season.

Let’s see how they got on in January…

Marko Grujic – FC Porto

2021 started in terrific fashion for Porto, beating Moreirense and Famalicao by three-goal margins, Grujic coming on as a sub in the second of those wins. There was a rare start for the Serbian midfielder, who played 70 minutes of the 4-2 win over Nacional which saw Porto through to the quarter-finals of the cup. He was awarded just a few minutes from the bench in the big clash with Benfica three days later though, coming on as a sub in a 1-1 draw which helps neither side in their bids to close down Sporting CP at the top of the table. The league leaders were Porto’s next opponents, in the semi-finals of the League Cup. Despite taking the lead through Moussa Marega, there was late heartbreak for Grujic, who played the full 90 minutes, with Sporting grabbing two goals in the last five minutes to turn the tie around and make the final. He got 83 minutes from the start as Porto picked up a valuable three points on the road at Farense, putting in a good showing and winning several aerial duels. He then made it three starts in a row by playing the whole match away at Gil Vicente in the Portuguese Cup, Porto winning 0-2 to advance to the semi-finals, where they will play SC Braga.

Sheyi Ojo – Cardiff City

Cardiff’s 2021 started in much the same way that 2020 ended, with the Bluebirds on the end of a narrow defeat. Ojo was a sub in the 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest as Cardiff exited the FA Cup in the third round. It was another unsuccessful appearance from the bench for the winger in their next league game, a 2-1 home loss to table-topping Norwich City. There is no shame in losing to Norwich, but a defeat at home by QPR – in which Ojo came off the bench – proved to be the final straw for Cardiff, who parted company with Neil Harris and duly replaced him with Mick McCarthy. The new manager’s first action was to drop a number of stalwarts, including Sean Morrison and Leandro Bacuna, but this was not enough to get a win in his first match, as they drew 2-2 away at Barnsley. The Liverpool loanee was given a start but struggled for much of the game, albeit providing a cool finish for Cardiff’s first goal. His contribution was rewarded with a start in the next fixture, a home draw with Millwall. Ojo operated in an unfamiliar role up front with McCarthy choosing to switch to a back three. He didn’t have much of an impact there and was subbed after 62 minutes with Cardiff trailing.

Adam Lewis – Amiens SC and Plymouth Argyle

It was no surprise that left-back Adam Lewis saw his time with Amiens cut short in January after making just nine appearances. Upon his return to Liverpool, he was immediately loaned out to League One club Plymouth Argyle. Now under the management of the impressive Ryan Lowe, Argyle are currently in mid-table in their first year back in the third tier. Lewis’ debut for the club came as a second-half substitute in their 1-1 draw with Crewe at Home Park, getting twelve minutes as a wing-back in a five-at-the-back system. He was afforded a start in the next game, a tricky away clash with Sunderland. Plymouth put in an excellent performance though, coming away with a 2-1 win over Lee Johnson’s team, helped by Lewis putting Argyle in front early on in the game after sliding to connect with Conor Grant’s cross. He came off in the second half with a minor injury and therefore was not in the squad for Plymouth’s brave defeat to Premier League Sheffield United in the FA Cup. This also kept him out of the away win over Swindon, though he was back in the matchday squad for the following 2-2 draw with Accrington, getting 21 minutes from the bench.

Ben Woodburn – Blackpool

Twelve minutes from the bench weren’t enough for Woodburn to have a positive influence in Blackpool’s first outing of 2021, a loss away at Bristol Rovers. He did however have a good showing with 27 minutes away in Blackpool’s very respectable 1-1 away draw with Hull City, showing some good touches and was unlucky not to score when brought down through on goal. This proved to be his last Blackpool appearance for the time being, with the short-term loan deal reaching its expiration date.

Harry Wilson – Cardiff City

There was some surprise to see Harry Wilson starting in Cardiff’s FA Cup tie with Nottingham Forest, as many thought Neil Harris would rest him. Despite a positive individual showing, he couldn’t prevent the Bluebirds getting knocked out by Chris Hughton’s team. It was a less impressive performance from him in their next match, though, missing a sitter early on in their 2-1 defeat to Norwich, which set the pattern for the rest of his game, producing his worst day so far for Cardiff. While he was improved in the subsequent loss to QPR, he didn’t do enough to save his team from defeat, or his manager from the sack, as Cardiff moved to sack Neil Harris. New manager Mick McCarthy opted to take Wilson, including a few others, out of the firing line for his first match in charge, a 2-2 draw at Barnsley. He remained on the bench for the following home clash with Millwall, though changed the game after being introduced. Wilson gave Cardiff more threat in attack after they changed shape in-game and it was he who provided a stunning, delicate through ball perfectly threaded into the path of Kieffer Moore to equalise.

Harvey Elliott – Blackburn Rovers

2021 started as 2020 finished for Harvey Elliott, pulling off a great assist for Adam Armstrong in Blackburn’s 2-0 win away at Birmingham. He wasn’t able to provide the same magic from the bench in the next match though, with Tony Mowbray’s team knocked out of the FA Cup by League One side Doncaster Rovers. Elliott was having one of his worst games for Blackburn in their Championship clash with Stoke City, but popped up with a bright moment, finding the killer pass to set up John Buckley to equalise in the second half. The winger was at the centre of things again for Blackburn as they recorded an excellent away win at Middlesbrough, setting up the only goal of the game by playing a brilliant one-two with Armstrong before delivering a bang-on-the-money cross for Joe Rothwell to tap home. Blackburn ended January with another one-goal win, over Luton Town at home to leave them just three points away from the playoffs. Elliott had a tough day, failing to provide any moments of quality in a rare below-par showing from the winger.

Morgan Boyes – Fleetwood Town

It was no surprise that Boyes’ loan at Fleetwood was cut short this month, after making just four appearances for the League One club.

Loris Karius – Union Berlin

With Union Berlin knocked out of the German Cup in December – Karius’ only appearance for the club so far – and established number one Andreas Luthe continuing to be consistent between the sticks, it is hard to know where Karius’ next match is coming from.

Taiwo Awoniyi – Union Berlin

After ending 2020 in fine form, Awoniyi and Union continued in a positive vein in 2021. The Nigerian led a counter-attack and played the final pass to assist Union’s first goal in their 2-0 win away at Werder Bremen, before getting a goal for himself after pouncing on some sloppy defending from the home team to stab the ball under the goalkeeper. Union collected four points from home games with Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen next, Awoniyi starting both, but failing to have much impact on either match. Union put up a great fight against title-chasing (and Liverpool’s Champions League opponents) RB Leipzig but were eventually undone by a goal from Emil Forsberg. They were beaten again in their next outing, by Augsburg, though Awoniyi did get an assist in this one, setting up Marcus Ingvartsen for Union’s only goal in a 2-1 loss. The Nigerian striker’s fifteenth start for Union came in their respectable 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach as they finished the month in 8^th place, three points off the Europa League spots.

Kamil Grabara – AGF Aarhus

As the Danish Superliga takes its annual winter break in January, Grabara’s appearances this month have been limited to AGF’s warm-up friendlies.

Liam Millar – Charlton Athletic

Canadian forward Liam Millar was loaned out in January to League One’s promotion-chasing Charlton Athletic. Millar’s first game for Lee Bowyer’s team was a loss to the impressive Accrington side, getting 63 minutes, before an insane 4-4 home draw with Rochdale, in which he started again but did not complete the full 90 minutes. He did get the full 90 in Charlton’s 1-0 away win at Bristol Rovers though, a game in which it looked like he’d scored the winner with a glancing header, but replays proved that he didn’t get a touch on Jake Forster-Caskey’s corner. Two more starts came Millar’s way – against Peterborough and Swindon – but Bowyer’s side were able to pick up just one point from the fixtures. Millar’s first goal for the club came in their 1-0 away victory over MK Dons. The attacker, who was on loan at Kilmarnock last season, crashed home a finish from Conor Washington’s cross to provide the winning goal in the first half.

Daniel (@daykind19)

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Daniel Daykin

A non-biased voice of reason among fellow Liverpool fans. I'll always tell you the truth, no matter how hard you find it to accept. I miss Suarez. A lot.

Latest posts by Daniel Daykin (see all)

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