Liverpool went in at half-time against Aston Villa on Saturday night with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Darwin Nunez goal, but there was one cause for ‘concern’ for Arne Slot in the opening 45 minutes.
Shortly after the deadlock was broken at Anfield, the glee of the home crowd turned to worry at the sight of Trent Alexander-Arnold sitting on the turf and requiring treatment, having incurred an injury which soon forced him off to be replaced by Conor Bradley.
The vice-captain appeared to be holding his hamstring as he headed towards the tunnel, and fans now face a nervous wait to discover the severity of the problem.
James Pearce is among the journalists on duty at Anfield tonight and he drew attention to the injury as soon as he spotted it.
The Athletic’s Liverpool correspondent firstly noticed that Trent was ‘down hurt’, and as it became obvious that a substitution would be required, he posted on X: “That’s a concern. He can’t continue. Bradley on.”
That's a concern. He can't continue. Bradley on
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) November 9, 2024
With Liverpool already deprived of Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott due to various fitness and injury concerns, the last thing Slot needed was the sight of his vice-captain limping off tonight.
Should the Reds go on to defeat Villa (it’s 1-0 at the time of writing), the result would be tempered by the loss of Trent, and fans will be praying that the problem which forced him off isn’t a serious one.
The silver lining is that any layoff for the 26-year-old would overlap with the international break, with LFC not in action for the next fortnight, and the ability to bring on a more than capable replacement in Bradley also offers some consolation.
Let’s hope that the medical experts deliver good news about our vice-captain once they’ve had a chance to assess him after his enforced withdrawal tonight.
The post ‘That’s a concern…’ – James Pearce spotted something in first half which’ll worry Liverpool fans appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
