Liverpool face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final (Pictures: Getty)
Arne Slot has confirmed Trent Alexander-Arnold will miss the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United.
The England right-back was forced off during Liverpool’s Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
Alexander-Arnold hobbled off midway through the second half and was replaced by Jarell Quansah as Liverpool lost on penalties to exit the Champions League before the quarter-finals.
Slot admitted after the heartbreaking loss that Alexander-Arnold was a major injury doubt for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle.
Liverpool travel to Wembley this weekend aiming to lift their first trophy under Slot, who replaced legendary manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield last summer.
Get personalised updates on Liverpool every day
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, Slot confirmed Alexander-Arnold would miss the final, though he ‘expects’ the 26-year-old to return before the end of the season.
Liverpool fans were fearing that Alexander-Arnold had played his last game for the club following his injury blow as he has been heavily linked with a summer move to Real Madrid.
‘Trent is indeed not available,’ Slot said at his pre-match press conference. ‘He will not be there at the final.
‘We’re assessing him to see when he will be back. We do expect him to be back before the end of the injury.’
Another Liverpool defender, Ibrahima Konate, was also subbed off during the defeat to PSG in midweek.
Slot said the Frenchman has not trained since that game but could return to the training pitch on Friday to test his fitness ahead of the final.
‘I expect him to train with us today but we will see how he is,’ Slot said in a fairly unconvincing injury update.
More to follow…
MORE: £42m star snubs Man Utd and agrees to join Chelsea after secret medical
MORE: Arsenal star William Saliba names the ‘best defender in history’
MORE: Ruben Amorim names Man Utd star who ‘doesn’t trust teammates’ after Europa League win