Trent Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away 38 TIMES in Liverpool’s defeat at Southampton – the most by a player in a Premier League match this season – before being hauled off by Jurgen Klopp on 77 minutes
- Liverpool were beaten 1-0 away to Southampton in a sloppy display on Monday
- Danny Ings scored after just two minutes to inflict another setback on the Reds
- Trent Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away 38 times in 77 minutes on the pitch
- The right-back gave Southampton the ball once every two minutes on Monday
- No player has given the ball away more in a Premier League game this term
Trent Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away for Liverpool 38 times in their defeat at Southampton on Monday night – more than any other player in a single game this season.
The Premier League champions slipped up once again in their title defence with Danny Ings’ second minute strike proving to be the winning goal for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
Alexander-Arnold has endured a tough campaing to date and found the going even tougher on Monday evening as he was hauled off by Jurgen Klopp on 77 minutes to be replaced by James Milner.
Trent Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away 38 times in Liverpool’s defeat at Southampton
The defender was hauled off by manager Jurgen Klopp (left) on 77 minutes after a poor display
It meant the England international gave the ball away once every two minutes at St Mary’s as Klopp’s Reds struggled in front of goal on Monday night.
Liverpool took just 75 minutes to test Fraser Forster for the first time on the south coast, which came two minutes before Alexander-Arnold was taken off.
The Merseysiders remain top of the league, but joint-leaders Manchester United can move top of the Premier League if they win their game in hand over Burnley next week.
The right-back was also blamed by Reds manager Klopp for allowing former Liverpool striker Ings to score after just 111 seconds after kick-off.
Klopp (left) also held Alexander-Arnold (right) responsible for Southampton’s winning goal
The 22-year-old (left) missed a clearance which allows Danny Ings (right) to score early on
James Ward-Prowse hung over an early free-kick and Alexander-Arnold failed to clear his lines just before Ings scored an acrobatic finish with his weaker left foot.
Klopp told Sky Sports: ‘The goal was already defended but we have a player who is able to hit the ball and he missed it. All these things can happen, we’re all human beings and it can happen anywhere at any moment.
‘With set pieces we knew that they do it, we have a player that missed the ball. We could have defended it.’
Former Reds defender Jamie Carragher claimed Alexander-Arnold’s failure to clear the ball epitomised a poor first-half for the 22-year-old.
Jamie Carragher believes Alexander-Arnold’s sloppiness for the goal summed up his night
Carragher told Sky Sports: ‘Trent finds himself in a two v one even though Liverpool have the numerical advantage. It’s something they (Southampton) have worked on. The way (he loses his man) sums up Trent’s half.’
Fellow pundit Paul Ince added: ‘Alexander-Arnold makes a big mistake, he should be doing better.’
Alexander-Arnold was last season’s PFA Young Player of the Year after registering 13 league assists during Liverpool’s first title-winning campaign in 30 years.
But the 22-year-old has endured a difficult start to the 2020-21 campaign in general with just two assists and no goals in his first 15 matches of the season.