Arne Slot gives his verdict on Trent Alexander-Arnold display after ‘distracted’ claim

Arne Slot insists Trent Alexander-Arnold did not have a mentality issue in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Man United, despite a sluggish display from right-back.

The buildup to Sunday’s clash was dominated by talk around Alexander-Arnold’s future, fuelled by a bid from Real Madrid almost certainly encouraged by the player’s camp.

Before the game, Slot insisted his contract situation would not prove a distraction, but fans were not convinced after a sloppy performance that saw him partially culpable for both goals conceded.

• READ: Trent Alexander-Arnold’s “mind is already in Madrid” claim fans

Alexander-Arnold was substituted late on as the lively Conor Bradley returned from injury, but speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, the head coach defended his right-back.

“No, no I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he felt the speculation got the better of him.

“I think Trent has played mostly very good games for this club.

“There probably have been games that he wasn’t on his best; today wasn’t his best game, but that probably had something to do with them as well.

“Especially in the first half, sometimes Ryan wasn’t close enough to him, so he was sometimes in a two-vs-one situation as well.

“I would put it more on the performance of Dalot and Bruno Fernandes than it being down to Trent.”

Given United’s goals – one from Lisandro Martinez and another from Amad Diallo – both came from attacks down his side of the pitch, criticism of Alexander-Arnold is understandable.

Slot noted that the visitors looked to target that flank, but again stressed that the players his vice-captain was up against deserved praise more than he did scrutiny.

“I think they did, but that’s also to do with Bruno Fernandes which is a very, very good player and he played a very good game today as well,” he continued.

“They’ve shown many times, United, if it goes really difficult for them, they can show up. They did cause us some problems.

“Dalot was a threat as well on the left side. We are talking about two starters of the Portugal national team.

“And that’s why it’s not always easy to defend them from getting in dangerous situations, which happened a few times today. Unfortunately, that led to two goals.”