Soccer

Klopp admits injured Alexander-Arnold is irreplaceable

Hamstring injury rules right-back out of Liverpool and England squads for several weeks

Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrates after Liverpool’s win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last Wednesday. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Richard Jolly
Sat Mar 19 2022 - 06:00

Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out for several weeks with a hamstring injury that will force him to withdraw from the England squad and miss some decisive matches in Liverpool’s pursuit of the quadruple.

The right-back is set to sit out their potential title decider at Manchester City on April 10th and both legs of their Champions League quarter-final, and could face a race to be fit for the meeting with Manchester United on April 19th.

Jürgen Klopp accepted that Alexander-Arnold, who has 16 assists this season, is irreplaceable for his team. Gareth Southgate must decide whether to recall Kyle Walker, who was omitted from his squad for this month’s friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.

It represents another blow for Alexander-Arnold in a stop-start international career after injury forced him to miss last summer’s European Championship. With Kieran Trippier sidelined and Walker left out, he and Reece James were the two right-backs Southgate had selected.

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Deputise

The 18-year-old Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley could be in line to deputise for Alexander-Arnold in Liverpool's FA Cup quarter-final at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. James Milner, who has often stood in for him, missed Wednesday's win at Arsenal because of illness. The centre-back Joe Gomez is another alternative.

“Trent is out with a hamstring, he will not be part of England as well,” Klopp said. “We will see how long it will take but, of course, to replace Trent is difficult but possible. We always did it.

“We have Joe. Theoretically we can change the system as well. So we have a couple of options, but he is very influential. If you look in the past when Milly [Milner] had to step in he did incredibly well. He just has to be available and then that is fine. I don’t know if he will for Sunday. Maybe we have a very young solution as well.

“The way he plays, I don’t know any player who plays like Trent in the world, so it will be difficult to find a one-versus-one replacement.”

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