Liverpool will be without at least two right-backs for the visit of Man City - but that is nothing new in recent years
Liverpool boss Arne Slot and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Liverpool boss Arne Slot and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
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Replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold was never going to be easy. But even Arne Slot could not have foreseen the difficulties in the position for Liverpool this season.
But if there's one fixture in which Alexander-Arnold's absence perhaps shouldn't be as keenly felt as others, it's the Anfield clash against moneybags Premier League rivals Manchester City.
True, Alexander-Arnold was in the starting line-up when helping the Reds to victory on City's most recent visit in December 2024 - a 2-0 win that laid down a significant marker on the way to a record-equalling 20th championship.
Remarkably, though, that was only the fourth out of nine home games against City in all competitions in which the England international had started since making his breakthrough into the Liverpool first team during the 2017/18 season. Twice each Joe Gomez and James Milner had stepped in, while Conor Bradley began the 1-1 draw in 2023/24.
The Reds, therefore, should be used to having to cope without Alexander-Arnold when Pep Guardiola's side travel down the East Lancs Road to take on the champions on Sunday afternoon.
The complication this time, of course, is that with Bradley out for the season and Jeremie Frimpong sidelined with a groin problem, the two players expected to compete to replace Alexander-Arnold long-term will also be absent.
And with question marks over the fitness of Gomez, there's a chance Dominik Szoboszlai could be asked to reprise the emergency role to which he returned in the 4-1 win over Newcastle United last Saturday.
Long-term observers of Slot's media messages have become bemused at the continued references to the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last season, a subject to which he returned again last week.
Despite clarifying his claim that he was pointing out last season's squad wasn't capable of challenging for both the Premier League and Champions League, it served only to further muddy the waters.
But the evidence of what Slot was stating could actually already be seen during that decisive Anfield clash with PSG with the right-back position.
Alexander-Arnold was among the game's most outstanding performers when he picked up an injury 17 minutes before the end of normal time.
And with Bradley hamstrung, it meant Jarell Quansah had to play at right-back in the League Cup final the following weekend against Newcastle United, who set up tactically to make the most of the player's understandable limitations in the position en route to their first major domestic trophy in 70 years.
With City having injury concerns of their own, Sunday's game may come down to who can adapt best to missing players.
And Liverpool have long shown they are adept at juggling right-backs against Guardiola's side.