Beating Manchester City ´massive´ for Liverpool, says Alexander-Arnold

Beating Manchester City could be “massive” for Liverpool’s season after three games without a win, according to Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Having won their first seven matches of 2018-19 in all competitions, Jurgen Klopp’s side have come unstuck in the past week, albeit in some difficult fixtures.

The Reds were beaten 2-1 at home by Chelsea in the EFL Cup before drawing 1-1 at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League meeting last Saturday, and their worst performance of the season followed on Wednesday as they lost 1-0 to Napoli in the Champions League without recording a shot on target.

Liverpool ended City’s unbeaten run in the top flight in January, when they won a thrilling game 4-3 at Anfield, and they also knocked Pep Guardiola’s side out of the Champions League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate triumph.

And Alexander-Arnold hopes for another positive result on Merseyside to keep their title challenge on track.

“It’s a massive game,” the full-back told Liverpool’s official website. “You’ve got to beat the best if you want to be the best.

Five stunners. One winner. @DanielSturridge‘s Stamford Bridge screamer wins our September Goal of the Month competition.  pic.twitter.com/KmE73X0xQF

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 6, 2018

“One of the toughest tests you’ll get all season is Man City, so taking three points from them for yourself can be big going forward. It would put a lot of confidence in us. That’s our aim and we know we can do it, it’s about doing it on the day.

“It’s obviously going to be a tough game, but we’ve shown in recent games that we have the ability to beat them, to go toe-to-toe with them, and that’s what we’ll be looking to do again on Sunday – to go at them and try to win the game.

“We’re not just taking part, we’re not just looking for a point, we’re looking to win and get all the points, but you’re not going to get much harder opponents than Manchester City.”

Alexander-Arnold believes the midweek disappointment at the San Paolo could help Liverpool to improve, provided they learn from their disappointing showing.

“I think the best teams bounce back from a defeat and that’s what we’ll be looking to do,” he said. “It’s important to keep the momentum going. There was a bump in the road on Wednesday, but we’ve got to keep trying to push forward and gather as many points as we can.

“It was a tough one and it was hard to take, but they’re the type of lessons you learn from the most. You learn from them more than maybe coming away with a draw. I think maybe it can help us in the long run if we learn from it.”