Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold will not be involved for England’s UEFA Nations League clash with Germany on Monday after being dropped from the squad by Gareth Southgate.
The Three Lions will face Hansi Flick’s side in their final game at Wembley Stadium before the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November, following on from Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Italy that saw them relegated to League B of the Nations League.
Alexander-Arnold was named in the 27-man squad for September's fixtures but was an unused substitute at the San Siro three days ago, and has now been dropped entirely for tonight’s game against Germany as his World Cup hopes hang in the balance.
There are now serious doubts over the 23-year-old’s involvement in the England squad for the trip to Qatar in November, with poor form and injury setbacks taking a huge toll on his role for the Three Lions under Southgate.
The England manager included 12 defenders in his squad for the latest round of fixtures, of which four are natural right backs. Alongside Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier are also competing for the full back positions.
With Southgate looking to use a 3-4-3 formation, Walker is set to slot into the three-man defence. However, James took right-wing back responsibilities against Italy on Friday, leaving Alexander-Arnold and Trippier as back-up options, although the latter seems to be ahead in the pecking order.
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The 23-year-old has started all nine of Liverpool ’s matches this season, scoring twice, although the Reds have kept just two clean sheets in that time. He has come under intense scrutiny for his defending in the defeats to Manchester United and Napoli, especially, after his lack of effort in tracking back for conceded goals in those games.
There is no doubt that he remains one of the best right backs in the world, thanks to his impressive range of passing and attacking threat, but it is perhaps those defensive errors and his unreliability in such situations which have helped to influence Southgate’s decision.
However, following Friday’s 1-0 defeat in Milan, Southgate insisted he does "not see a risk" in playing Alexander-Arnold - but admitted he is not in pole position for his World Cup plans - and explained why he has to make a decision regarding which right-back to play, not just the Liverpool defender.
He said: "I don't see risks. You can have a style of play and a way of playing, and a balance to the team, that... at Liverpool they find a way of playing that brings the best out of his attributes and that's what we're all trying to do with every team.
"He does have a fantastic range of passing, we're blessed with different profiles of player in that position, if we play with wing-backs, Trippier and Reece James are also exceptional with the ball, in different ways, and we're always having to look at the full package with everything.
"If you assess the players on all of their attributes, they've all been to Champions League finals, some of them have been to latter stages of major tournaments with us, Trent's won the league, Trippier's won the Spanish league, Walker's won the English league.
"There are so many good attributes about them, it's a really difficult position to make decisions on, but we have to go with the ones we believe, and ultimately I'll be judged on the outcome, as we know."
