Ryan Mason knows Liverpool have an ‘exceptional footballer’ in Trent Alexander-Arnold but insists Tottenham Hotspur cannot afford to focus on just one Liverpool star during Sunday’s Premier League meeting.
This, most would agree, has been Alexander-Arnold’s poorest top-flight campaign since emerging as a fully-fledged member of the Liverpool XI. But he will still end it with another spot in the Anfield history books.
Five assists in just four games in April alone. More than any other Liverpool player has managed in a single month since Opta records began. And the England international could still enhance that tally this weekend; Liverpool hosting a Spurs side they have not lost to since Mauricio Pochettino’s side ran riot at Wembley six years ago.
“Obviously, we’re talking about an exceptional footballer,” Mason tells Football London. “But they’ve got many different players who can cause us problems. They’ve proven that over the years and we’re aware of that.
“The focus for us isn’t on one individual as it’s about stopping them as a team. Also, it’s about us acting as a team with the ball and hopefully hurting them as well.”
Liverpool host Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield
Tottenham produced a much-improved display under interim boss Mason against Manchester United on Thursday night; bouncing back from a 2-0 first-half deficit as well as Sunday’s 6-1 hammering at Newcastle.
Then again, Man United still could and probably should have put the game to bed long before Heung-Min Son’s equaliser, Mason’s Spurs struggling to cope with the creativity and vision of Bruno Fernandes and the returning Christian Eriksen.
Alexander-Arnold, in his new central role, could pose similar problems at Anfield.
“It’s difficult because of the way Liverpool play,” West Ham United boss David Moyes Moyes told the Hammers website this week; Klopp’s trusty ‘number 66’ setting up Cody Gakpo’s goal during a 2-1 comeback win at the London Stadium.
“The position Trent Alexander-Arnold is taking up is causing different problems.”
Liverpool can leapfrog Tottenham with a win at home this weekend. There is currently just one point between the two Champions League-chasing sides.
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