John Aldridge
I wonder what Gareth Southgate was thinking after being present at the King Power Stadium on Monday evening to watch another vintage Trent Alexander-Arnold display?
It was a simply spectacular goal from Trent to put the Leicester game out of reach
Offensively, he is the best right-back in the world. Sometimes he doesn’t get the support he needs because of the way he plays, so can get caught out.
Alexander-Arnold has looked so much more assured since Klopp changed things up last month and has been given a new lease of life.
He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders before, but now seems a different person and player.
Getting the best out of Trent in midfield is an experiment Southgate trialled a couple of years ago, which everyone was questioning at the time but now looks to be the way forward.
England do not have a midfielder like Trent.
With him, Bellingham, and possibly Rice, that is a serious midfield.
I hope Trent doesn’t play for England again, though, and that’s simply from a Liverpool point of view.
I doubt that will happen as he is too good, and you want him to achieve what he wants to in his career, but Southgate doesn't seem to fancy him at all.
Which English player in the Premier League or abroad can do what he does in midfield? No-one. It‘s up to Southgate to do what he thinks is best for the team
Top four could be decided by goal difference
It was vital we kept pace with Manchester United and Newcastle by beating Leicester on Monday evening. I thought we were a bit sloppy with our final ball, but that’s just me nitpicking.
If we were on top form, we could have scored six goals. Leicester were there for the taking. I was hoping we were going to get a fourth or a fifth because you never know if the top-four race is going to come down to goal difference, and Newcastle are leading us by four in that department.
We got a clean sheet, which is brilliant, and Alisson managed the game magnificently. That Alisson is only two clean sheets away from leading the way for the Golden Glove, considering the season we’ve had, shows you how good he has been. I want him to get it so much because he has been outstanding.
In terms of our chances of finishing in the top four, Manchester United won't like the fact we are right on their shoulders now.
They have got the easier games compared to Newcastle, against teams that have got nothing to play for, and will be expected to win their matches versus Bournemouth, Chelsea and Fulham.
Newcastle haven’t won either of their last two matches and the pressure could get to them as they’ve not been in this position as a team.
They have Brighton next, who have just beaten an excellent Arsenal team 3-0 away from home and proved their defeat by Everton was just an off-day. After that they face a Leicester side knowing they need to pull three points out of the bag from somewhere and a Chelsea team who continue to be unpredictable in every sense of the word.
It would be absolutely hilarious if United were the ones to miss out on the top four on goal difference, taking into account their 7-0 defeat to us, it would be something special. That won’t happen as their home form will get them through, but it would be amazing to see.
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