Trent Alexander-Arnold will be on the bench in his grand return to Anfield as Real Madrid take on Liverpool in the Champions League.
The Spanish giants are proceeding with caution when it comes to Alexander-Arnold. The England international has not played in seven weeks after suffering a hamstring injury on Sept. 16.
Alexander-Arnold returned to training with Real Madrid after the October international window and made Xabi Alonso’s squad for matches against Barcelona and Valencia. Yet the fullback did not log a single minute in either clash.
Alonso, therefore, opted against throwing the recently recovered Alexander-Arnold into his starting XI against Liverpool. After such a lengthy spell on the sidelines, the 26-year-old is still working his way to full match fitness.
The decision to instead start Federico Valverde makes for a lackluster return to Merseyside for Alexander-Arnold, who spent 20 years at his boyhood club before joining Real Madrid this summer. The former Red can still make an appearance off the bench, though, and play his first minutes at Anfield in a white shirt.
Alexander-Arnold Has Yet to Settle in At Real Madrid
It has been anything but a dream start at Real Madrid for Alexander-Arnold. The Englishman struggled in his debut at the FIFA Club World Cup, drawing criticism for his poor defending on the right flank.
Alexander-Arnold slowly settled in, though, and became a bright spot for Los Blancos in the United States. In fact, the only match Real Madrid lost in the newly expanded tournament came without the right back, who missed the semifinals due to injury, on the pitch.
Still, Alexander-Arnold then had a La Liga debut to forget, prompting Alonso to begin rotating the ex-Liverpool star with Dani Carvajal. Suddenly, the blockbuster summer signing found himself competing for minutes and spending more time on the bench than on the pitch.
Just when it looked like Alexander-Arnold had done enough to earn the trust of Alonso, he suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of action for seven weeks.
With Carvajal now set for a lengthy layoff due to a knee injury, Alexander-Arnold will have plenty of opportunities to get his Real Madrid career back on track, so long as he stays healthy.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Trent Alexander-Arnold Isn’t Starting for Real Madrid vs. Liverpool.