How Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrated goal for Liverpool against Accrington Stanley after Man United nightmare

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Liverpool enjoyed a comfortable first-half against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Reds were of course heavy favourites heading into the game against fourth-tier opposition and made that count during the opening 45 minutes.

Liverpool didn’t have things all their own way, though. Accrington worried them on a couple of occasions early on.

But after Diogo Jota finally put the Reds ahead after half an hour, Trent Alexander-Arnold made things comfortable with a stunning effort just before half-time.

Alexander-Arnold has been under intense scrutiny following interest from Real Madrid during the January transfer window, and the right-back was disastrous during his last Anfield outing against Man United last weekend.

And after the Liverpool fans aimed their fury at Alexander-Arnold last time out, it was interesting to see how he celebrated his thunderous goal on Saturday.

Trent Alexander-Arnold with a ‘this is my club’ smile

Last time Alexander-Arnold scored – against West Ham just after Christmas – the Liverpool academy graduate made headlines with his celebration.

Trent made a ‘chattering’ gesture with his hand to indicate a tiredness with the rumours over his expiring contract and a move to Real Madrid.

This time, wearing the captain’s armband, there was no such ambiguity from the No.66.

Walking towards the Kenny Dalglish stand with his arms outstretched, Alexander-Arnold was shown displaying a beaming smile towards the Anfield crowd.

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“That’s a nice smile, that’s a ‘this is my club’ sort of smile,” said pundit Lucy Ward, on commentary for ITV.

And after Trent was withdrawn with half an hour to play, journalist James Pearce spotted the fans reacting positively to him. “Ovation for Alexander-Arnold as he goes off and he applauds the fans back,” Pearce reports on X.

Alexander-Arnold getting back to his best

It was a little bit of a surprise to see Alexander-Arnold start for Liverpool on Saturday.

With plenty of regular Liverpool starters given the day off by Arne Slot, it had perhaps been expected that Conor Bradley would begin the game.

However, the Liverpool head coach clearly felt that Trent needed to get his confidence back after a disappointing few weeks.

Having blasted in a great goal and felt the love from the crowd once more, it was certainly a good call from Slot, and Trent should be all the better for it.