Liverpool’s players have not been particularly deserving of compliments over the course of the past week.
The Reds are coming off the back of three results which could have incredibly damaging consequences for their season.
Drawing at Old Trafford despite dominating the game was bad enough, but subsequent losses to Atalanta and Crystal Palace have left their campaign hanging by a thread. Nobody has stepped up.
The one positive for Liverpool is that they have big players returning from injury. Jamie Carragher suggested that three of these absolutely have to start Thursday’s return leg in Italy if the Reds are to stand any chance.
And now, Gary Neville has also lent his voice to the discussion, claiming that one of Liverpool’s returning heroes is in fact a ringer for Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.
Gary Neville makes Trent Alexander-Arnold claim
If you are of a negative disposition, you could quite heartily argue that there was not a single positive for Liverpool to take from Sunday’s loss.
It quite clearly handed the title advantage to City and De Bruyne and also compounded what was a wounding defeat on Thursday.
However, in the midst of such heartbreak, you’ve got to at least take something away. And for us, that was the sight of Trent Alexander-Arnold finally returning to the pitch.
It was not the best 45 minutes of Trent’s career, but to see him enter the pitch to replace Conor Bradley at half-time was enough. Jurgen Klopp had suggested before the game that we may not see Alexander-Arnold vs Palace, so it was a pleasant surprise during an otherwise turgid afternoon.
And unless any Liverpool fan was unclear on just what a boost this is, Manchester United legend Neville has spoken during an interview with Trent on The Overlap today to reiterate what a special player the 25-year-old is.
“I don’t think you can call him a right-back because he’s no ordinary right-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold,” said the former right-back. “One of the most talented defenders I think you’ll see in the game. I can’t make any higher compliment for him than to say it’s David Beckham and Kevin de Bruyne at right-back.”
Will Alexander-Arnold start against Atalanta
The obvious point to make here is that Alexander-Arnold perhaps was never supposed to play for quite as long as he did at the weekend.
Given Klopp’s pre-match words, it may well have been that the Scouser ended up playing 20 or 25 minutes more than planned. As a result, we may now have to expect that Trent will sit out of Thursday’s trip to Italy.
That would obviously be another blow for Liverpool. As Neville says, he really is one of the most talented players in the whole league and, in search of at least three goals, it would be brilliant to have him on the pitch in Bergamo.
Obviously, there is a chance that Alexander-Arnold has reacted well to playing 45 against Palace and is fine to go again. There is also what looks like an injury to Bradley to throw in. But we’ve been stung by trying to get Trent back in too soon already this season. With the season on the line though, we’d like to see our own KDB out there.