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Trent Alexander-Arnold Produces Incredible Assist Then 'Aims Celebration At Gareth Southgate'

Trent Alexander-Arnold Produces Incredible Assist Then 'Aims Celebration At Gareth Southgate'

Liverpool's right-back opened up Arsenal then let loose a cathartic roar.

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Trent Alexander-Arnold gave the perfect response to being dropped from the England squad with a terrific assist that broke open Liverpool's game against Arsenal, leading to a 3-0 win.

The right-back wasn't picked by Gareth Southgate for March's three World Cup qualifiers, but he showed his value as he was crucial in breaking the deadlock at the Emirates.

After 64 minutes, Alexander-Arnold whipped in a superb, pinpoint cross onto the head of Diogo Jota who made no mistake. The 22-year-old defender let out a cathartic roar after a difficult fortnight as Liverpool went 1-0 up.

Mohamad Salah then scored his 93rd Premier League goal (in his 150th PL game) with a fine solo effort to put Liverpool into a 2-0 lead. Jota produced a fine finish to put the visitors 3-0 up as Arsenal completely crumbled in the second half.

But it was Alexander-Arnold's assist that broke the stalemate - and it was an ideal reminder to England manager Southgate of his capabilities.

The full-back has struggled for form at times this season, but is widely regarded as one of the world's best in his position after his action-packed performances helped Liverpool to Champions League and Premier League triumphs in recent years.

Yet Southgate has always seemed reluctant to make Alexander-Arnold his first choice in the position - perhaps as he is concerned about England's defence and prefers to choose a less attack-minded player.

But Jurgen Klopp has had his say, defending his player while saying he of course respects the decision of the Three Lions boss.

"If Trent Alexander-Arnold is not in the squad then England must have an extremely good squad," said Klopp pre-match.

"I was surprised when he didn't get the call-up. I respect the decision, of course I do. But I didn't understand it.

"I am a manager myself; I make decisions every day, every weekend, every midweek about team selections and squad selections...

"I respect that Gareth makes his own decisions, of course, but I didn't understand it anyway because Trent Alexander-Arnold was in the last two seasons at least, let me say the season before and the season before that, the stand out right-back in world football - that is the truth and at an unbelievable young age.

"He started the season with Covid and you can imagine it took him a while to get into the season, but from the moment when he was in the season, he was one of our most consistent players and a standout player.

"He could play all the time, high level all these types of things, so that cannot be the reason that he was not in the squad."

Liverpool's 3-0 win came at the perfect time, as Chelsea's 5-2 defeat to West Brom earlier on Saturday opened up the top-four race.

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Topics: Liverpool, Trent Alexander Arnold, Premier League, England, Gareth Southgate