Trent Alexander-Arnold has admitted that it’s ‘a bit weird’ to be playing without Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk.
The Reds have had two games since their influential centre-back was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee issue, though Jurgen Klopp’s side won them both.
Liverpool edged out Sheffield United at Anfield on Saturday and right-back Alexander-Arnold has told the club’s official website that he still can’t quite get his head around Van Dijk’s absence, given that he’d been an ever-present figure for the best part of two years in that first XI.
He said: “His communication and leadership is massive for us back there, he’s probably the leader of the back four and obviously without him it’s a bit strange because this is probably the first time and the first spell where we haven’t had him since he’s came in. So it’s a bit weird for us.”
Have Liverpool been brilliant without Van Dijk this week? No, but they don’t need to be brilliant.
The Reds just have to play better than the opposition every week, which sounds simple and of course there’ll be hiccups, but Fabinho has looked the part in that centre-back role and by the time January comes around, when Klopp can sign a replacement, you’d think they would still be in the mix to defend their Premier League crown.
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