Arne Slot has said he “would be surprised” if Trent Alexander-Arnold is able to play in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semifinal second leg clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday after the right-back limped off in the 70th minute of the team’s win over Bournemouth on Saturday.
Alexander-Arnold was forced off with 20 minutes to go at the Vitality Stadium after pulling up with an apparent issue with his thigh.
“The situation was that he said to me: ‘You have to take me off’ and he sat on the floor and we took him off,” Slot told a news conference.
“He felt something, I can’t tell you exactly what and how bad it is of course because we are one hour after the game, but it is never a good sign if a player is asking for a substitution.
“This is not a fact but I would be surprised if he plays on Thursday, but let’s hope he is back with us as soon as possible.”
If Alexander-Arnold is unable to recover in time for the visit of Ange Postecoglou’s struggling Spurs side, Connor Bradley would likely take his place on the right of the back four. Spurs hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg thanks to Lucas Bergvall’s late goal.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah continued his fine form this season as his brace inspired Liverpool to victory over an in-form Bournemouth side.
Salah’s goals saw him leapfrog Chelsea legend Frank Lampard into sixth place the Premier League’s all-time goalscoring charts. The Egypt international netted his 178th goal with a fine curling effort that sealed the points at the Vitality Stadium and left him six behind former Manchester City forward Sergio Agüero (184).
Asked about Salah’s devastating consistency in front of goal, Slot told the BBC: “Yeah — especially the second goal of course. First one, the penalty, big moment so then you have to step up as well. But the second one, that was maybe the difference between the two teams because they were in those positions once in a while as well, and the way Mo finishes that ball it pure pure pure quality.”
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