Trent Alexander-Arnold is all but set to leave Liverpool, with reports claiming that Real Madrid are in talks over signing the Reds full-back ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Alexander-Arnold’s future has been up in the air for some time, with his contract situation at Anfield marking one of three on Merseyside posing question marks over the makeup of the first team.
While plenty will surely miss the right-back should he finalise a move to Madrid, Alexander-Arnold’s time at Liverpool has been littered with errors, with pundits such as Roy Keane calling him out for some sub-standard displays.
Here, we’ve taken a look at some of Trent’s worst defensive moments in a Liverpool shirt, with some even aiding his potential future employers in the Spanish capital.
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ByBarney Lane 7 Man Utd v Liverpool, March 2018 Rashford ruins 19 y/o Trent at Old Trafford
While we could give Alexander-Arnold the benefit of the doubt given his inexperience at the time, there’s no question that he was upstaged by Marcus Rashford during a 2-1 Premier League defeat seven years ago.
In conceding the first goal of the afternoon, a flick-on from Romelu Lukaku found Rashford, with Alexander-Arnold already all at sea.
And just as it had seemed the 19-year-old had recovered, one heel chop had beaten the youngster all ends up as Rashford fired a rasping drive past Loris Karius.
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ByBen Browning 6 Liverpool v Man City, July 2022 Trent falls asleep during Community Shield final
Alexander-Arnold opened the scoring during the Community Shield final in 2022, but had a moment to forget after a defensive lapse gifted champions City an equaliser.
After being unable to stop Phil Foden’s darting run into the box, the defender’s blushes were spared as Adrian made a smart save. However, thinking the danger was over, Alexander-Arnold then simply… stopped.
While Trent turned his back to the play, Adrian had been unable to gather the loose ball, and Julian Alvarez prodded in a leveller with the Liverpool defender helpless on the line.
5 Villarreal v Liverpool, May 2022 Coquelin out-jumps static TAA to level semi-final
With Liverpool taking a 2-0 first-leg lead into their Champions League semi-final second leg against Villarreal, all signs were pointing towards another European final for the Reds. And while they eventually prevailed with a comeback victory on the night, some lacklustre defending had put their tickets to Paris on hold.
Villarreal were buoyed by an early goal and had their tails up as they searched for a leveller, and when a hopeful ball from Etienne Capoue was floated into the Liverpool box, Trent should have been favourite for it.
Unfortunately, the England full-back was rooted to the spot, allowing Francis Coquelin to charge in unchallenged and win the race for the ball. Had Liverpool gone out that night, there would have been plenty of fingers pointed at Trent.
4 Man City v Liverpool, February 2025 Jeremy Doku runs rings around Reds star
Although Liverpool were relatively comfortable winners when they faced champions Man City at the Etihad Stadium back in February, Trent Alexander-Arnold had a torrid day at the office. Coming up against Jeremy Doku on City’s left-hand side, the Belgian tortured Trent all afternoon, with the stats making for ugly reading.
As per Sofascore, Alexander-Arnold ended with the lowest match rating out of those to start the game (6.3), while perhaps most startingly, he was dribbled past 12 times, with Doku the tormentor-in-chief.
Trent also won just 2 of 14 ground duels, marking an awful day for someone who had left the game with three points and a clean sheet.
3 Liverpool v Man Utd, January 2025 TAA comes under fire for woeful display
During a 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the Premier League, a lot of eyes were on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance after Liverpool dropped points at home.
Some iffy moments at the back led Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane to ridicule the rumours linking Trent with a move to Real Madrid, with the full-back proceeding to be at least part-culpable for United’s opener and almost gift the visitors a winner – leading to a death stare from captain Virgil van Dijk.
Speaking at half-time (with the score at 0-0), Keane said: “We talk about how brilliant Trent is going forward, but Trent’s defending today – my goodness, it’s like schoolboy stuff!
“There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid, the way he’s defending, he’s going to Tranmere Rovers after this! He’s got to do better!”
2 Real Madrid v Liverpool, April 2021 Trent gifts Real Madrid goal in Champions League quarter-final
Alexander-Arnold has developed a reputation for being something of an assist king at Liverpool, but took this to new heights in 2021 when he assisted the opposition in a Champions League quarter-final.
With Liverpool 1-0 down, the Reds were already up against it, and their task to overcome Los Blancos was made even harder when a long ball from Toni Kroos was exquisitely nodded into the path of Marco Asensio by… Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The Spaniard lofted the ball over a hapless Alisson before burying into an empty net – he can hardly have believed his luck. As errors go, that one is perhaps the most embarrassing of the lot.
1 Liverpool v Real Madrid, May 2022 Defender allows Vinicius to slot home Champions League winner
This is perhaps not Alexander-Arnold’s worst error in a Liverpool shirt, but in terms of the consequences, it was the most costly. Locked in a tense Champions League final with Real Madrid in 2022, the La Liga giants dealt the killer blow just before the hour, with Vinicius Junior lashing home from Federico Valverde’s driven cross.
While there is little shame in conceding to the likes of Vinicius, Trent will likely never want to rewatch the goal again. He has no idea where the Brazilian is, with the Madrid winger ghosting in behind Alexander-Arnold and in acres of space to score the eventual winner.
You could argue a bit more communication could have come to Trent’s rescue, but this type of defensive lapse is something we have seen several of from the defender in Liverpool colours – though perhaps not for much longer.
