A superb free-kick from returnee Trent Alexander-Arnold put Liverpool on the road to victory at Fulham. According to Jürgen Klopp, there was a story before – and one after
When Trent Alexander-Arnold was recently out for weeks due to a torn collateral ligament in his knee, Liverpool FC not only missed his playmaking qualities and crosses, but also his standards. On Sunday, when he also made his Premier League comeback, the right-back gave a particularly fine demonstration of what he can do with resting balls.
Right-footed Alexander-Arnold set Liverpool on their way to a 3-1 win at Fulham FC with a perfect direct free-kick into the top left-hand corner (1-0, 32′). He couldn’t get an assist for it – but Jürgen Klopp verbally handed one out afterwards anyway. His reasoning: because left-footed Harvey Elliott had got stuck in the wall with his low free-kick around ten minutes earlier, Alexander-Arnold had not been able to get it up with any determination
Klopp misses an assist for Alexander-Arnold’s direct free-kick goal
“I think Harvey owns 10, 15 percent of the goal,” insisted Klopp. “We analyzed Fulham, saw that the wall jumps up and told Harvey: ‘Try it through the bottom’.” Because that didn’t work, the fans “laughed”, the coach continued, but not in the end: “I’m pretty sure the wall” – with Alexander-Arnold’s attempt – “didn’t jump as high as it normally does.”
Another German with roots in the Stuttgart area was less enthusiastic about this “great free-kick” (Klopp): Fulham keeper Bernd Leno flew in vain and sought a chat with Klopp after the game. “He asked me: ‘What kind of goals do you always score against us? “He probably meant: against him. “
In fact, Leno had already had to reach behind him four times in the first-round duel, as Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo, among others, scored outstanding goals from distance and one of the players officially listed as a defender marked the 4:3 from 16 meters in the 88th minute: Alexander-Arnold.
“It’s true,” said Klopps to Leno’s question, “we had some really crazy ones. But we needed them.” Another win against Fulham kept Liverpool level on points with new leaders Arsenal, while defending champions Manchester City are third with one point and one game in hand.
