Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out with a knee injury as Liverpool’s injury issues continue.
Jurgen Klopp is already missing his two left backs with Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas out and now right back Alexander-Arnold has suffered a knee injury during their 2-0 FA Cup win at Arsenal on Sunday.
With Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo on AFCON duty, plus injuries to multiple defenders and Dominik Szoboszlai suffering a hamstring issue last week, all of a sudden the Premier League leaders are seeing the depth of their squad tested considerably.
Alexander-Arnold injury update
Speaking about Alexander-Arnold’s injury, assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders confirmed that the England international is due to be out until the end of the month.
“Trent hyperextended his knee during the last game,” Lijnders said. “So he has a little tear in the lateral ligament of his knee and he will need time to recover. He had a scan and he will be out for a few weeks, so let’s see after that.
“He will get some rest and then hopefully he can come back to where he was. Because this guy was decisive in all the games and was the one who created constantly for us from deep and gave the team a high level of flexibility. We will really miss him.”
Alexander-Arnold is expected to miss Liverpool’s two League Cup semifinals against Fulham, their FA Cup fourth round tie (against Norwich City or Bristol Rovers) and their Premier League clash at Bournemouth. He could return for their game against Chelsea at Anfield on Jan. 31. Liverpool then head to Arsenal five days later on Feb. 4 in a huge clash with title implications. Klopp will be hoping TAA will be ready for the games against Chelsea and Arsenal but it seems like that will be a close call.
What impact will Alexander-Arnold’s injury have on Liverpool?
Klopp is right, this will have a big impact. Along with Salah, Alexander-Arnold has been Liverpool’s most consistent performer and aside from losing Trent from an already depleted defense, it also impacts Liverpool’s attacking creativity.
Virgil van Dijk told PST following Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Man City earlier this season (where Trent scored the late equalizer) that the full back drifting into midfield to play in a hybrid role is giving them an extra tactical wrinkle to bamboozle teams.
Alexander-Arnold’s passing ability is incredible and his assist for Mohamed Salah’s goal against Liverpool on Dec. 23 showcased how he can run a game from deeper positions and how heavily Liverpool have relied on him this season.
Youngster Conor Bradley, 20, could come in at right back with Joe Gomez remaining out of position at left back.
