Trent Alexander-Arnold on Difficult Liverpool Victory and Injury Concerns

Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory over FC Midtjylland wasn’t one for this history books, a rather dull affair punctuated by the loss of emergency centre half Fabinho to injury, but in the end three points is all that matters.

Three points and another example of this Liverpool group being able to grind out the results even when they may not be at their scintillating best, which for Trent Alexander-Arnold has to be the main takeaway.

“It’s the Champions League, so you never expect an easy game,” noted Liverpool’s young star right back following the win. “But we’ve kept a clean sheet, which we’re happy with, and we played well. We did our job.

“It wasn’t our best game but we’ve got the job done. Three points in a tough group, you never take that for granted and we’ve put ourselves in a decent position. Hopefully we’ve set the foundation to work off now.”

With six points from their first two games, the Reds now lead the group after Ajax and Atalanta tied in their match on Tuesday, and while their job is far from finished it sets them out as favourites to advance.

The loss of Fabinho, though, is a blow that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially with Virgil van Dijk out for the season and the club now relying on Joël Matip and Joe Gomez—two players with spotty injury records.

In the absence of Fabinho and Van Dijk, the Reds will rely on youngsters Rhys Williams and Billy Koumetio—the latter of whom isn’t eligible to play in Europe—in the short term, with Williams stepping up last night.

“I think he’s an amazing player,” Alexander-Arnold added about last night’s performance by the 19-year-old Williams. “He wasn’t with us much last season but he came in this season and showed how good a player he is.

“To be thrown in at the deep end on the biggest of stages is tough to do, tough to perform, but he never really put a foot wrong. So I think he’ll definitely be in the manager’s thoughts come the weekend and further on.”