The defending of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold v Arsenal on Sunday is being called into question.
And honestly, rightly so.
The Liverpool right-back got taken off at half-time by Jurgen Klopp following some suspect defensive work before both of the Gunners’ goals within the first 45 minutes.
The hosts’ second looked particularly damning for the England international, who allowed Gabriel Martinelli to cut inside far too easily before his across-the-box pass was turned home by Bukayo Saka just before the break.
We never saw the Liverpool-raised player after the restart and the club’s former player, Stevie Nicol, admits that he is ‘absolutely dumbfounded’ by the right-back’s effort to stop that Martinelli cross.
He told ESPN: “I’m not particularly overly concerned that the first goal is actually his fault. The second one however I think he’s defending when he runs past not only Henderson but Martinelli. Absolutely dumbfounding. I can’t understand [why] a defender would do that.”
It’s possible that Alexander-Arnold’s confidence is at an all-time low – and at a horrendous time, too.
There’s question marks over whether he’ll even make England’s World Cup squad and with Liverpool – on their worst start to a Premier League campaign for a decade – facing Erling Haaland and Manchester City next week, Klopp could take him out of the first XI.
It’s a tricky situation for Klopp because does he drop him against Pep Guardiola’s side, damaging his confidence in the process, or keep in the starting lineup and risk his already frail confidence being shattered even more?
It’s a dilemma for the Liverpool manager and it’ll be fascinating to see what he chooses.
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