LONDON (AFP) – Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold will miss the League Cup final against Newcastle with an ankle injury that leaves the defender facing an extended spell on the sidelines.
Alexander-Arnold was injured in the second half of Liverpool’s Champions League last 16 penalty shoot-out defeat against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old’s absence is a huge blow to Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who is without a recognised right-back for tomorrow’s showdown with Newcastle at Wembley.
Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez, the usual candidates to replace Alexander-Arnold, are both still recovering from injuries.
“Trent is not available. He will not be there at the final,” Slot told reporters yesterday.
“He is still to be assessed for how long it will take but we do expect him back before the end of the season.”
Alexander-Arnold was left out of the England squad named by Thomas Tuchel yesterday ahead of their World Cup qualifiers later in March.
Slot is confident Jarell Quansah can prove an able deputy for Alexander-Arnold at Wembley after being impressed by his reaction to being dropped earlier this season.
Quansah lost his place as Liverpool’s starting centre-back at half-time of the season opener at Ipswich because Slot said he “lost too many duels”.
The 22-year-old could have been affected by that snub but he bounced back so strongly that he has earned a place in Tuchel’s England squad.
“If being substituted at half-time is a setback then almost every player has more than a few setbacks during his career,” Slot said.
“In the end that probably went to a situation where he got criticised more than was normal for a player who was taken off at half-time.
“Mentality-wise it might have been a big moment for him because now he has experienced that people were not only positive about him like last season.
“He also knows now he can fight his way back if people are all of a sudden not positive any more.”
