Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has raved over Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, but has warned he can be got at defensively.
The England international was tremendous going forward against Tottenham Hotspur last time out, but showed some defensive frailties. Despite that, Nicholas believes the Reds will ease to a 3-1 victory away at Aston Villa on Saturday.
“Liverpool have so many fantastic players, especially the front three,” he wrote on the Sky Sports website. “If one is off, it is no major disruption, but the midfield you can get at, hence why Jurgen Klopp changes it. When the full-backs are up and Liverpool play the high-press, they will win as nobody can get out.
“It could be Trezeguet who could hurt Liverpool, especially in these wide areas. Everybody has seen with Trent Alexander-Arnold that he is unbelievable going forward but can leave gaps at the back, so how do you expose it? It is the wide areas where Liverpool can win and lose games, and this area could be damaging for Villa, who will try and play. This will suit Liverpool and they will pick them off.”
OPINION
There’s no doubt that Alexander-Arnold is phenomenal when he’s on the ball and he’s getting forward. He caused Spurs so many problems last week with his pace and his unbelievable crossing ability. However, he was at fault for Harry Kane’s opener, failing to close Son Heung-min down properly and allowing the South Korean to cut inside and unleash the shot that led to Kane heading home. So it was a mixed bag for the 21-year-old, although there were far more positives than negatives as far as Klopp will have been concerned. As for Liverpool’s trip to Villa Park, 3-1 sounds about right. The Reds have been far more open defensively this season than they were last term, and so Villa may well find the back of the net. However, Liverpool have so much attacking talent that it’s hard not to see them scoring more than once. With that said, Klopp will be very confident that his team can travel to Birmingham and come away with all three points.
