Liverpool will face Atalanta in Serie A on Thursday night in the Europa League quarter-finals and manager Jurgen Klopp spoke to the media ahead of the first leg at Anfield.
Attention shifts from the Premier League title race to a possible final European hurrah for Klopp, as Liverpool appear to be offering the German coach European trophies in his final weeks as manager.
But they face a star-studded Atalanta, with Gianluca Scamacca, Charles De Ketelaere and, of course, a Reds-linked player in midfielder Teun Koopmeiners.
Klopp may be on the verge of welcoming back a handful of injured stars, such as Diogo Jota, who has returned to training after almost two months out injured. Alexander-Arnold is slowly recovering from a knee problem.
The England star increased the lead in January but tried to come back and aggravated the situation in a win over Burnley, in which he scored. He came on at half-time. But little by little he is getting back in shape.
They have now missed games in all competitions, adding seven in the Premier League, and then the two against Sparta Prague, a draw in which Liverpool recorded an impressive 11-2 aggregate score.
In his pre-match press conference, according to the club’s website, Klopp spoke about Alexander-Arnold’s chances of playing, saying it is the star’s worst injury since the German’s arrival at Anfield.
Klopp said: “They want time to catch up. They are satisfied that we are still in the scenario we are in. I don’t know exactly how long they were out. I think Trent is the longest since I’ve known him. “.
“Everyone has to go back step by step, so if they’re now in a position to play a few minutes, it’s the best time because we play Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, so we’ll be loving the kids. “
It’s possible Alexander-Arnold is watching from the bench on the first Thursday night in order to give him about 15 minutes as a backup. Develop the right fitness and strength for the injury.
They will certainly want a player like Alexander-Arnold for the steal, a player who Kyle Walker recently praised for his strategy and a player who Jamie Carragher believes is better than Arsenal’s Ben White.