Medical insider: Trent Alexander-Arnold could make surprise Liverpool return v Man City after latest
Trent Alexander-Arnold may be ready to play for Liverpool against Man City on Sunday (16 October).
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Jurgen Klopp revealed in his press conference on Friday (14 October) he is yet to decide on his injured players ahead of the visit of Man City.
Alexander-Arnold missed the 7-1 win over Rangers on Wednesday night (12 October) after being forced off at half-time during the 3-2 loss to Arsenal last week (9 October).
It has been widely reported, including by BBC Sport, that Alexander-Arnold will be sidelined for up to three weeks, so a return before then would rank as a big surprise.
He suffered the knock after a challenge from Gabriel Martinelli in the first-half but played on until the interval.
Asked whether that may have exasperated the problem, Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley: “It’s always difficult.
“It’s high octane and there’s a lot of testosterone flying around in a big game with the television cameras. The backroom and medical staff have a very small window of opportunity to go out and assess the players.
“A lot of those discussions in regards to a particular injury and whether they can continue will be player-led. The emphasis at that point is what is Trent able to tell them.
“The staff will be watching the game in real life and on video replays on the bench so they will have a good understanding of the mechanism of the injury and what is really going on there. Conversations with the player will back up, confirm or otherwise.
“Given when that happened and the close proximity to half-time, Trent may have been the player who was pushing it to see how it goes before half-time then they could re-evaluate and see if he could continue.
“The injury itself isn’t too serious in the grand scheme of things. There is even a small outside chance he could make the Man City game although it is unlikely.
“In terms of time loss, it’s certainly not on the top end of severity. It will be a close call and one that Trent maybe thought he could push through.
“When half-time came you feel it a bit more, the swelling and the adrenaline isn’t pumping as hard. Then you realise it might be better to take yourself out of the firing line.”
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