OPINION
Jurgen Klopp must give Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold his biggest challenge yet by playing him against Manchester City in the Champions League, after a report revealed that Joe Gomez was set to be unavailable.
The Sun reported that after suffering an ankle injury while with England, Gomez was set to be ruled out for four weeks.
This means the defender will likely miss both legs of the Reds’ Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City.
Gomez has been impressive for Klopp’s side this season, showcasing all his best attributes in the 29 appearances he has made.
However the German manager will have no choice but to cope without him for his side’s Champions League quarter-final.
Alexander-Arnold is the obvious player to replace Gomez in the team for the highly-important fixture, as the 19-year-old has been effectively sharing the position of right-back with Gomez this season.
The teenager, who is set to have a bright future at Anfield, has managed to feature 22 times for the first-team during the current campaign.
While Alexander-Arnold has played against the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham as well as faced Manchester City before this season, with the game being in the Champions League much more is at stake.
The young defender had a woeful time against Man City when he met them earlier in the campaign, as Pep Guardiola’s side cruised to a 5-0 victory.
However that game was very early in the season and Alexander-Arnold would have hopefully learnt from his experience of playing against them.
Despite the 19-year-old clearly getting more games under his belt since the Man City experience, it’s still a gamble for Klopp to play him in such a huge fixture.
Alexander-Arnold was exposed the first time he met Man City and it’s no guarantee that his experience will make him fare any better.
Even though this is the case, Klopp must select him to play in Gomez’s absence and give him what can only be described as a trial by fire.
If Alexander-Arnold emergence victorious from the Man City games then it could inspire him to reach new heights.
Therefore it’s worth Klopp taking a chance on the teen by starting him in both legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City in April.