It’s time for your daily Trent! Yes, in what seems like a never-ending drip-feed of updates on Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m), we’ve another one to bring you today.
This latest quote, fresh from Arne Slot, forms part of our EFL Cup press conference round-up.
You can find key team news from the managers of Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur below.
LIVERPOOL
Arne Slot has confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold (thigh) will miss Thursday’s cup clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
He remains a doubt for Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle, too.
Slot said the right-back was “already on the pitch” with the medical team, which is hopefully a positive sign given that the injury was only sustained on Saturday.
“He is going to miss the game tomorrow and we have to see if he is able to play Sunday. But what we do know is that he is not available for tomorrow.
“I think you saw that he left the pitch with a bit of a pain in his leg, so that’s why he misses the game tomorrow.
“But he is already on the pitch, not with the team but with the rehab coach, so let’s see how long it is going to take. But he will not be available tomorrow.” – Arne Slot on Trent Alexander-Arnold
In a further potential boost, Slot mentioned Alexander-Arnold only being out for a “few days” when asked about the strength of his squad now that the transfer window is closed.
“I’ve said it many times, we have a very good squad and if you look at the league table I think the players have shown that the trust we have in them was correct and – apart from Trent [Alexander-Arnold] now maybe for a few days – we don’t have many injuries, not long-term injuries, in moments that the window is open.” – Arne Slot
As for the rest of the Liverpool squad, they’re injury-free.
That includes Joe Gomez (hamstring), who trained ahead of the Bournemouth win but didn’t feature.
Curtis Jones (muscle), Diogo Jota (muscle) and Darwin Nunez (illness) all returned as substitutes in that fixture.
Aside from team news, reporters quizzed Slot on Liverpool’s starting centre-forward.
“I will be happy if that player becomes both. ‘Facilitator’, nice word, I didn’t know that one yet, and scoring goals himself – that is, again, what we want to achieve in the end. But I also saw the penalty from Cody [Gakpo] where Lucho [Luis Diaz] as a nine played a part without even touching the ball. So, he dragged the centre-back out which led to the fact that Cody was in a one-v-one and he made a deep run and got tripped, which led to the penalty. So, in the end you want attackers [and] midfielders to score, we’ve spoken about our attacking midfielder as well.
“We need to get goals from many positions, including them, including centre-backs that can score from set-pieces also. So, that’s what I just said, we are trying to work on the training ground and with the feedback we give them after the game to make the team better and better and better and in the end, the No.9 should be a facilitator, like a winger, but a winger and a nine should also score goals.” – Arne Slot on whether he is happy for his centre-forward to be a ‘facilitator’ or whether he wants them to deliver more goals
ARSENAL
It sounds like it’s ‘as you were’ on the team news front at Arsenal.
Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Ben White (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Gabriel Jesus (knee) remain out, then.
“No news from the game against City. Ben [White] is still out. Hopefully, after the break, he will be available. [Saka], no, not yet.
“I don’t know [if Saka will be back in March].” – Mikel Arteta
White could potentially return in Gameweek 25, then, based on Arteta’s quote – assuming the ‘break’ he means is the 10-day gap between tonight’s EFL Cup semi-final and the Gunners’ next Premier League game. Arsenal are out of the FA Cup already.
Away from the fitness front, Arteta was grilled on Arsenal’s striking options after they failed to land a target in the transfer window.
“We’re going to have to be very flexible in the frontline and now the ones that we have and are fit, make sure they stay fit and keep contributing. Leo can play in that position, Raheem has played in that position, Ethan I think can play in that position, Martinelli can play there so let’s see in relation to how everybody is; [the] moment and opponent, but at some point, I think we’re going to have to try something different.” – Mikel Arteta
“Kai has played so many games, and has been so important when other players, some big players as well, were available. So it’s not because a player is not coming in his position that he’s going to be more important. In my opinion it’s nothing to do with that.” – Mikel Arteta
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Joelinton is a doubt for Wednesday’s cup tie after picking up a knee injury in the defeat to Fulham.
“Joey was, after the game, put in a knee brace just as a precaution and is out of that knee brace now. We’ll assess how he is for this game. I would say he is a doubt but we will give him every minute we can to try to make him fit.” – Eddie Howe
Elsewhere, Callum Wilson (hamstring) could make a return to the matchday squad.
“There is a chance [with Callum]. We have got another important training day today. Let’s get through training before we make a decision on him.” – Eddie Howe
Harvey Barnes (thigh) and Jamaal Lascelles (knee) remain out.
Eddie Howe said Lascelles is a “few weeks behind where we are currently”. Barnes was previously earmarked for a comeback around mid-to-late February.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Ange Postecoglou looks set to be without Micky van de Ven (hamstring) and Cristian Romero (hamstring) again on Thursday.
Van de Ven made his comeback in the UEFA Europa League a week ago but then sat out the win over Brentford three days later. Romero’s recovery meanwhile is dragging on longer than expected.
Now, with Kevin Danso on board, Postecoglou isn’t going to take any risks – even in a high-stakes semi-final.
“It’s a bit of everything. He got through the game [against Elfsborg] no problem but we had a look at the figures… the Premier League is a whole different beast. Just, after losing Radu [Dragusin], I sat down and thought about what we have got ahead of us still. Don’t get me wrong, we have a couple of massive games this week for sure but we have also afforded ourselves a couple of weeks – hopefully – without midweek fixtures. Beyond that, Europe kicks in, which is massive for us. Hopefully, we’re in a final in the Carabao Cup. Hopefully, we’re still in the FA Cup. I just don’t see the sense right now in risking that.
“Having Kevin [Danso] in is a massive bonus for us. So no, [Van de Ven] hasn’t reinjured the injury or anything like that. I just feel we need to get more into him, I think he feels he needs to get more into him, same with Romero, so it will just be a wait-and-see approach.” – Ange Postecoglou on Micky van de Ven
Radu Dragusin (knee), James Maddison (calf), Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Brennan Johnson (calf), Timo Werner (hamstring), Dominic Solanke (knee) and Guglielmo Vicario (ankle) remain out, too.
Only Dragusin is long-term out of that lot. The others are projected to return this month, some as soon as Gameweek 25.
Spurs have no fresh concerns, either.
Danso and fellow new boy Mathys Tel are eligible for tomorrow’s cup tie.
On Tel, Postecoglou explained where he thought the youngster’s best position was.
“Archie [Gray] wanted to be a central midfielder, so who knows where Mathys will end up! Look, he’s got the attributes to play, I think, as a nine for sure, but he’s played wide really successfully as well. That’s the beauty of him coming into us. At the moment we’re going to need him probably in all of those areas because it’s fair to say, as much as we’ve got issues at the back, we’ve probably got bigger issues in the front third at the moment. We’re missing three wingers and our striker.
“I get people are still dismissing the fact that tomorrow night we’re still gonna have nine, maybe 10 first-team players out of our starting line-up, so having Mathys, who can play both wide and central… Richy’s doing great for us at the moment but again he’s coming off not playing for a while and we’ve got to be really careful with him. Sonny’s playing all the time. We’ve got Mikey, he’s a 17-year-old. We’ve got Deki who can play in there. So, having [Tel] who can play either side… I reckon in the short term until we get some numbers back, I think he can fill all three roles.” – Ange Postecoglou on Mathys Tel
