Liverpool boss Arne Slot will be biting his nails over the coming days as he hopes that his key players move through the international break without picking up injuries.
The September pause was relatively drama-free, although Harvey Elliott did fracture his foot with England U21s and has still not returned to fitness.
The Dutchman and all of an Anfield persuasion will wait with bated breath, for Liverpool are atop the Premier League table after seven fixtures, have won both of their opening Champions League games and recently thrashed West Ham United to advance to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Nine wins from ten matches have seen Slot earn plenty of plaudits for his start to life as Jurgen Klopp’s successor, but the one blemish on his record came directly after the September international break when Nottingham Forest defeated the Reds in their own backyard.
20/10/24
Premier League
Chelsea (H)
23/10/24
Champions League
RB Leipzig (A)
27/10/24
Premier League
Arsenal (A)
30/10/24
Carabao Cup
Brighton (A)
02/11/24
Premier League
Brighton (H)
05/10/24
Champions League
Bayer Leverkusen (H)
09/10/24
Premier League
Aston Villa (H)
Slot will want his players to return from international duty with fluency and form intact, so he might be somewhat concerned by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance against Greece on Thursday evening.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's performance vs Greece
Alexander-Arnold can by no means be scapegoated for the shamble of a display that England put in against Greece in the Nations League, deservedly losing 2-1 at Wembley in the Nations League, but he didn’t play well and saw some of his flaws accentuated.
Lee Carsley’s experimental system fell flatter than a lemonade left out in the sun, and Alexander-Arnold was left isolated on the counter, with the jam-packed attacking line leading to a sharp loss of balance.
The Anfield hero also tamely failed to deny Vangelis Pavlidis as the striker weaved his way through for the game’s opener, the full-back among a gaggle of England stars who limply attempted to thwart the clinical marksman on his route to goal.
Alexander-Arnold showcased his highest-standard calibre of passing, making four key passes and completing 13 long balls – albeit failing to find his man with 11 of 13 crosses – but he also lost two of his three contested ground duels and was dribbled past as Greece sought to silence Wembley.
The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg handed the right-back a 4/10 match rating and wrote that he: ‘kept inverting but his positioning meant that Greece had space when they broke down the left. Passing was off too.’
While Alexander-Arnold did give the ball away 22 times, more than any other player on the pitch, he was also looking to make things happen and should have claimed a brilliant assist after looping in a cross that Anthony Gordon failed to convert.
Ultimately, though, Alexander-Arnold proved himself once more in Three Lions garb as a playmaker of the highest calibre. England might have been a day late and a dollar short but they were the architects of their own downfall given Carsley opted to implement a system without a recognised striker – something that further stifled the Liverpool vice-captain’s ability to pick out those running in behind in the final third.
Whether he starts against Finland on Tuesday evening remains to be seen at this stage, but Slot and co may well be hoping that he is dropped for Kyle Walker, for Liverpool host Chelsea in the Premier League next weekend.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's start to the season
Liverpool have been excellent this season and so too has Alexander-Arnold. Perhaps he hasn’t quite been at his all-creating best, but the 26-year-old is still a cut above the lion’s share of full-backs across Europe and has only conceded two Premier League goals across seven fixtures for his first-placed side.
And anyway, as per FBref, the £180k-per-week ace ranks among the top 10% of full-backs in the Premier League so far this season for shot-creating actions, passes attempted, progressive passes and progressive carries per 90, with the lattermost metric emphasising a refined approach toward ball-carrying since Slot took to the dugout.
Liverpool’s defensive record and Alexander-Arnold’s own gains in his backmost third under Slot speak of a renewed sense of composure and assurance in his efforts to protect Liverpool’s goal, having won 3.3 ground duels and 2.4 tackles per top-flight game thus far in 2024/25, as per Sofascore.
Buttressed by the redoubtable defensive partnership of Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold has found that he can create and influence with an even greater degree of security than he’s been used to – the personnel haven’t changed, but the system in which they operate in certainly has.
It goes to show that he can dictate any match when in a set-up that maximises his quality, and Carsley’s attempt to refashion England in the absence of Harry Kane, without actually playing a proper centre-forward, had a ripple effect that was of course going to leave Liverpool’s homegrown hero facing problems.
Even so, he was still one of the better performers on a drab night, and though Steinberg branded him with a 4/10 match score, it’s worth remembering that John Stones, Jordan Pickford, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon and Phil Foden also received such lowly numbers.
On another evening, Alexander-Arnold’s sumptuous delivery would have been finished off by his Scouse-born teammate, and perhaps the tide would have been turned. Alas.
Maybe Alexander-Arnold will be dropped against Finland next week as Carsley looks to shuffle his pack after a horror show on home turf, and maybe that’s alright.
Liverpool won’t be complaining, not with Chelsea travelling to Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday. The world-class right-back is one of the best in the business and will be sure to cause the Blues problems as Slot’s Liverpool continue to climb.
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