Michael Owen has warned his former club Liverpool that Real Madrid could look to target the space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold in the Champions League final.
Liverpool will be confident heading into the Paris showpiece having only lost three times in 62 matches this season and victory this evening would see them claim their third trophy of the season having already won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
But Madrid boast a large number of attacking threats and Owen has highlighted a potential target in Liverpool's backline.
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Often viewed as defensively suspect by rival fans and some parts of the national media, Alexander-Arnold has had to overcome this negative connotation of his play and, while it's not necessarily true, Owen believes that Carlo Ancelotti could tell Vinicius Junior to exploit the space behind the marauding right back.
“I think Liverpool will probably have a lot of the ball because I think Madrid will be keen to prevent spaces in behind them for the likes of Salah and Mane to run into," the former Reds striker told the The Daily Mail
“But, I also think they will want to sit deep to actually encourage Liverpool to play that high line and then try to exploit it on the counter-attack.
“When Trent Alexander-Arnold moves forward, they’ve got Vinícius that could really hurt Liverpool in that position. Everybody does the same thing and everyone tries it. Whether you can actually do it is another matter.
“No question Madrid will be looking at Liverpool’s high line, they’ll be looking at Trent going forward a lot and they’ll be thinking Vinícius is going to be a weapon. I think Ancelotti will try to expose that area and Vinícius will be one of their key components.”
