Former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam believes teams facing Liverpool are preparing to take 'advantage' of defender Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Manager Jurgen Klopp left the right-back on the bench for Saturday's Premier League defeat to Nottingham Forest, with James Milner getting the nod ahead of the No.66.
A second half strike from former Liverpool forward Taiwo Awoniyi condemned the Reds to their third defeat of the campaign and stifled the momentum they had built from victories against Manchester United and West Ham in the previous week, as they left the Midlands ruing a plethora of missed chances.
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But after suffering an ankle injury against Arsenal two weeks ago, Alexander-Arnold was consequently left out of the starting XI for the victory over Pep Guardiola's side, handing him a much-needed break from the limelight. However, the reasons for his omission from the line-up on Saturday are less apparent.
Performances such as his first half display at the Emirates, as well as his outing at Old Trafford earlier in the season, resulted in Gareth Southgate leaving the defender out of his squad for September's Nations League clash with Germany at Wembley and once again circulated the discussion aroundhis defensive capabilities.
And Stam, a three-time Premier League winner during his time at Old Trafford, has questioned whether opponents will now be looking to profit from Alexander-Arnold.
Speaking on MatchDay Extra on Premier League Productions, Stam said: "What’s wrong? I think they are still a very good side and they have very good players. The only thing that’s lacking is confidence.
“But you expect them, after the Manchester City game, a good result, where they didn’t play well, you think the next game you get something out of it.
“Playing Forest, on a very bad run, they need to win, so they are going to give you a hard time. But the confidence you are getting from the Man City game, you might expect them to get more about from this game.
“Maybe oppositions are looking at them a lot more, in terms of ‘where are their weaknesses?’. You see a lot, when Alexander-Arnold plays, a lot of teams are playing on that side and taking advantage and creating opportunities, so they need to get things right to start competing for the Champions League spots.”
Next up for Liverpool is a trip to Amsterdam to face Ajax in their penultimate Champions League group stage fixture, before hosting Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday
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