Stuart Pearce feels Trent Alexander-Arnold angered Jurgen Klopp as Kevin De Bruyne scored for Manchester City against Liverpool. The Belgian made Saturday’s game 2-1.
The Anfield natives travelled to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League as they came out of the international break. Liverpool desperately needed a positive result on the road in the fight to finish in the top four, as well. They had moved back into contention during March.
Mohamed Salah got Liverpool off to the ideal start when he broke the deadlock in the 17th minute at Manchester City. But Julian Alvarez (27’) drew Pep Guardiola’s squad back level. De Bruyne (46’) and Ilkay Gundogan (53’) then sealed the Citizens the lead after the break.
Pearce points to Alexander-Arnold’s mistake in the build-up to Liverpool conceding
Liverpool had a chance to stop Manchester City from attacking before De Bruyne scored as Alexander-Arnold stood off a challenge. It left Guardiola’s side free to break before playing the ball out to Riyad Mahrez on the right. The Algerian also had acres of space to run into.
From there, Mahrez had a simple pass into the centre for De Bruyne to meet. The Belgian found himself wide open after darting in behind Virgil van Dijk as Manchester City broke. Alisson could, possibly, have done more to intercept the cross before it found De Bruyne.
De Bruyne’s goal marked the start of a buoyant second half for Manchester City
Manchester City taking advantage of Liverpool’s shoddy defensive positioning for the lead infuriated Klopp, with Pearce suggesting it all stemmed from Alexander-Arnold’s mistake.
“You can see the frustration in Klopp,” Pearce said on talkSPORT (01/04, 13:39). “Firstly, Alexander-Arnold has jumped out of a challenge, and from there, they are wide open. But the ball across the face of the goal was fantastic.”
Klopp started Alexander-Arnold in one of Liverpool’s Premier League fixtures for the 24th time so far this term at Manchester City. He has also featured in all 27 of the Reds’ games this term. But the 24-year-old’s often-questioned defensive qualities came into question.
De Bruyne’s goal also marked the start of the Citizens running riot with Jack Grealish (74’) also scoring. The result and the Reds’ performance will give Klopp questions over some of his players, too. Liverpool seemed to be running out of steam when Grealish made it 4-1.
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