Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold could miss next week’s final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park due to injury.
The England international, one of two Scousers in Arne Slot’s squad, missed the win over Tottenham which booked a Carabao Cup final spot with a thigh problem sustained at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Slot has played down the seriousness of the problem but admits the final meeting against their neighbours across Stanley Park before next season’s move to Bramley-Moore Dock may come too soon for the right-back.
Arne Slot has provided fitness updates on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Tyler Morton 🔴
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 7, 2025
“Difficult to say (about the derby). It’s not going to take months and not even weeks but that’s only three days after the Plymouth Argyle game, so let’s wait and see if he is available,” said the head coach, who will make numerous changes for Sunday’s FA Cup tie against the Championship’s bottom side.
“We also have to look at the long term, of course we don’t want to take any risks with so many games afterwards coming up.
“But if he’s fit then of course we will use him.”
Alexander-Arnold’s injury is the only one to a member of what could be classed as his first-choice squad – midfielder Tyler Morton has been ruled out for several weeks with a shoulder problem.
The team has had its fair share of injuries this season but have managed to deal with various absences to Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker, Ibrahima Konate, Federico Chiesa and Joe Gomez and still be competing on four fronts.
Slot believes that is helped by a more holistic approach to how they manage the players’ workloads, giving them important time off even during a busy schedule, with Alisson rested for the Tottenham game as an example.
Last season they were in a similar position at this stage under Jurgen Klopp but after winning the League Cup their campaign tailed off badly in March and April but the hope is a new rest and recovery pattern will prevent that this time around.
“I can’t compare with how it was but I definitely see them as human beings as well,” he added.
“If you want to keep on going for such a long season, because they never have one or two weeks off, then at certain moments they have to be at home as well and be a father or a husband.
“If you are only a football player for 15, 16, 17 years with only three weeks off during the summer to be a father or husband then you would not be human.
“Of course we take this into account but we do these things mainly because it benefits us for winning football games.”
