LIVERPOOL have been handed a huge blow as Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out for “a few weeks”.
The England international has been superb for Jurgen Klopp’s side this season, but will now spend some time on the sidelines.
Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders confirmed that the 25-year-old suffered a hyperextended knee during Liverpool’s clash with Arsenal on Sunday.
Speaking to the official Liverpool website, he said: “First of all, some not-that-good news, Trent hyperextended his knee during the last game.
“So he has a little tear in the lateral ligament of his knee and he will need time to recover. He had a scan and he will be out for a few weeks, so let’s see after that.
“He will get some rest and then hopefully he can come back to where he was. Because this guy was decisive in all the games and was the one who created constantly for us from deep and gave the team a high level of flexibility. We will really miss him.”
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The spell away from the pitch could see Alexander-Arnold miss SIX games for the Anfield outfit.
It’s likely to be a huge blow to Jurgen Klopp’s side who sit top of the Premier League table thanks to the a helping hand from the right-back’s three assists and two goals this term.
Liverpool play both their Carabao Cup semi-final fixtures against Fulham in the coming weeks as well as hosting Chelsea in the league.
On top of that they are also due to face both Arsenal and Bournemouth away from home in the league and will take part in their FA Cup fourth round tie against Norwich or Bristol Rovers.
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All six of those games take place in the next four weeks so an extended spell away from the team could spell trouble for Liverpool in all three domestic competitions.
The Reds may have to turn to 20-year-old Conor Bradley in an already makeshift back-line without Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas.
But there is some good news for Liverpool fans as Virgil van Dijk is due to return to the squad after missing the club’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal at the weekend.
Lijnders offered an update on the rest of the Liverpool squad, saying: “Virgil is back. He did some runs yesterday on the pitch, looked good again. So he will be back in the squad, he recovered well. So it really helped him not to travel to London.
“Dominik Szoboszlai is progressing well on the pitch, he’s running, so let’s see. Not available for tomorrow.
“And then we have Andy Robertson, he’s almost at the three-month mark, so he will get checked by the surgeon.
“And if he does that scan and we see everything [so] that we can really progress him, he will go to Dubai for a week to do proper volume sessions, proper sessions, so that will be good for him.
“Then we see the three-month-mark scan and then we can see how quick he can go into contact again.
“Same for Kostas Tsimikas. Kostas is progressing really well, really quick. So hopefully both of them – Robbo and Kostas – will be back at the end of this month to train with the team.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
