Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was taught a lesson by Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic on Saturday.
That’s according to BBC pundit Garth Crooks. Writing in his Team of the Week column, Crooks claimed that the Liverpool player ‘got destroyed’ by the Serbian striker.
“Mitrovic, a player I thought was done playing Premier League football two years ago, was putting himself about like Didier Drogba,” wrote the pundit. “Much to the dismay of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who got destroyed by the Serbia international for the first goal, and a Liverpool backline who had come for an easy life.”
Mitrovic leapt above Alexander-Arnold to plant a powerful header past Alisson Becker on Saturday afternoon. He gave the Liverpool defence a torrid time all game, also winning and then scoring a penalty in the second-half.
Trent not at the races, but Mitrovic no easy opponent
Much of the focus in the build-up to Liverpool’s game with Fulham had been on The Reds’ centre-forward, not the Cottagers’.
But while Darwin Nunez started on the bench, Mitrovic wreaked havoc. It may be a little unfair to entirely blame Alexander-Arnold for the Serb’s opening goal. But he perhaps could have been stronger in his challenge.
Alisson could probably have done better, too. Neither could stop Mitrovic’s header though, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.
The 27-year-old isn’t the easiest of strikers to play against. He’s almost inhumanely strong, and after scoring 43 goals last season, he’s got the taste of blood.
If Saturday’s performance was anything to go by, Liverpool won’t be the last team to fail to deal with Mitrovic this season.
Again, it will raise the tiresome issue of whether Trent is a defensive liability for Liverpool. Spoiler: he isn’t.
Sometimes, you just get caught out. Mitrovic is incredibly good in the air and if the positioning is just a little bit off, he can punish that.
Questions from outside will inevitably be asked of Alexander-Arnold. But he’s answered any and all doubts about him before, and he’ll do so again. The 23-year-old more than earns his reported £160k-a-week and will continue to show exactly why.
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