'A bit of pain': Journalist says one Liverpool player actually played through injury vs Chelsea
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Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at the weekend, and they beat the Blues despite having to contend with a few selection issues.
Indeed, both Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz were left on the bench at the weekend after long-haul flights from South America, while Diogo Jota picked up an injury during the game.
Jota came off injured during the match, but he wasn't the only Liverpool player dealing with pain during that game.
Indeed, according to James Pearce, speaking on the Walk On Podcast, Trent Alexander-Arnold was actually playing through pain during this game after picking up a muscle problem for England.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played through pain for Liverpool
Pearce gave a rundown on the current Liverpool squad and their fitness levels.
The journalist says that Alexis Mac Allister was unwell before the game, while Conor Bradley was nursing a knock, as was Trent Alexander-Arnold.
"I know Mac Allister had a bit of sickness on the flight coming back and didn’t train on Friday but he came off the bench didn’t he? He could have started Mac Allister if he felt the need to. But I think holding Mac Allister and Diaz back proved to be a wise move,' Pearce said.
"So you’d imagine both of those would come back in to contention for that game in Germany. Conor Bradley picked up a knock on international duty with Northern Ireland, so not expecting him to be back around.
"Trent Alexander-Arnold has actually played with a bit of pain on the weekend.
"He’s got a muscle problem that he came back with in England, but I’m sure he’ll be desperate not to miss out on it. I think the word at the moment seems to be they think they can just manage it with Alexander-Arnold. Then, yeah, I don’t really see him changing too much else."
How did Alexander-Arnold do against Chelsea?
Playing through an injury is never easy, but Alexander-Arnold did very well in this game.
Writing for the Liverpool Echo, John Aldridge was full of praise for the defender, describing him as excellent.
“Sunday was further proof that those who think Trent Alexander-Arnold can't defend are talking nonsense. Trent had some major tests against Chelsea, with the Londoners having spent an awful lot of money on a succession of really good wingers," Aldridge wrote.
“You can't deal with those without being able to defend. Trent did really well up against Jadon Sancho in the first half, while Sancho's replacement Pedro Neto is a real livewire who can go beyond any Premier League full-back.
“But because it is Trent, the one time it happened, people want to magnify it. Why not make more of a deal of all his good defensive moments against Chelsea?
“Both Trent and Andy Robertson had one or two moments in attack, but otherwise they didn't venture forward as much as they would have done under Jurgen Klopp. But defensively the pair – similar to Joe Gomez late on – were excellent.”
Curtis Jones took most of the headlines from the game, but Alexander-Arnold was also on top form during this match, proving, once again, just how important he is to this side.
Alexander-Arnold's future at Liverpool is in doubt amid ongoing contract negotiations, but he's still as committed as ever to the Reds, as shown by the fact he played through injury here.
Fingers crossed, Alexander-Arnold can come through this knock and continue to perform at this sort of level for Arne Slot throughout their upcoming difficult period.
