Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold’s potential ankle injury doesn’t sound promising after Jürgen Klopp had to substitute the 24-year-old in Sunday’s Premier League defeat this past weekend.
That is the opinion of Sky Sports contributor Ben Dinnery, who was speaking on Monday’s instalment of FPL Injuries following last weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
Alexander-Arnold was substituted at half-time in Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat at Arsenal after picking up an ankle injury when trying to block a Gabriel Martinelli cross.
And according to The Times, the right-back, who has been described as a “fabulous footballer” by ex-pro Rio Ferdinand, will miss Wednesday’s Champions League fixture against Rangers and is a “major doubt” for Sunday’s home clash against champions Manchester City.
Dinnery has suggested that Alexander-Arnold’s injury “doesn’t look great” after the full-back asked manager Jürgen Klopp to bring him off.
He said: “Trent – he picked up an ankle injury early on in the game, I think it was Gabriel Martinelli, came across, challenged, rolled his ankle.
“Indication that it could be some kind of lateral ankle sprain there. That needs to be assessed.
“Now, in the seven years that Jürgen Klopp said he’s been working with Trent, this is the first time that he’s ever asked to be replaced and that ankle swelled up fairly immediately.
“So that one will be assessed – again, it doesn’t look great.”
TIF Thoughts on Dinnery’s comments…
Despite Alexander-Arnold’s poor form this season, we believe that Liverpool fans will be extremely concerned by these latest developments and will be praying that the 17-time England international’s injury isn’t as serious as feared.
His injury marks a torrid weekend for the Merseysiders, who also suffered injuries to Joel Matip and Luis Diaz following their defeat in north London.
Alexander-Arnold is still integral to the Reds’ creative output, as he ranks in the top 4% of full-backs across Europe’s top five leagues and European competition for assists per 90 minutes (0.29) over the last 365 days according to FBref, showing that he is still capable of creating things from the back for Klopp’s side.
Therefore, we think that there is cause for concern over the news of Alexander-Arnold’s injury and Klopp will be hoping to see a swift return to action for the Premier League star.