Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) looks set to miss the Gameweek 7 clash with Manchester City due to a groin problem.
The Liverpool right-back, currently owned by just over one-third of all Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, sat out the Reds’ 5-1 win over Porto on Tuesday night after picking up an adductor injury in training.
His club manager, Jurgen Klopp, provided us with an update after the win in Portugal:
“So the situation when you play Saturday and Tuesday, the players who start the game – which Trent obviously did – have on Sunday no training, they have recovery. On Monday, the only session we have together, we pretty much walk through the things. We have meetings and on the pitch, we just show the difference between the opponents, so there was no intensity really in the session. But Trent anyway in the middle of the session felt his adductor and in that area, he has now a little injury.
“Obviously, when you have something with your muscle, it’s not likely for Sunday – no muscle injury heals that quick. After that, it’s internationals. I don’t want to make the decision for him but what I heard, I don’t think it will be possible for him to be with the national team – but the other people have to decide that in the end. But hopefully, after that, he will be ready again, but we don’t know exactly.” – Jurgen Klopp
That last line from Klopp will be something of a concern for Alexander-Arnold’s FPL owners: a match against City isn’t the worst fixture in the world to sit out from a Fantasy perspective but heading into the international break with one yellow flag already in the bank isn’t ideal given the spate of other injuries and illnesses we usually see when Premier League players are away representing their countries.
It’s possible that Klopp is trying to talk up the problem in the hope that his defender will sit out the international break: Alexander-Arnold will still have to be assessed by the England camp if he is called up by Gareth Southgate but the Three Lions boss has yet to name his squad, so may opt to omit the Liverpool right-back from the outset.
ALEXANDER-ARNOLD: KEEP OR SELL?
Alexander-Arnold’s form in 2021/22 (7.0 points per match) will see him retain ‘no sell’ status for many FPL managers, providing the recovery time is relatively quick, of course.
But Liverpool sit second-bottom of our Season Ticker for fixture difficulty from Gameweeks 8-13 and, with Chelsea and Manchester City defenders about to fuse their form with a kind schedule, an Alexander-Arnold sale is one route to bringing in an Antonio Rudiger (£5.7m) or Ruben Dias (£6.1m).
