The injury happened during Sunday’s 2-0 FA Cup victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium for Alexander-Arnold.
Prior to their Carabao Cup semi-final matchup with Fulham on Wednesday at Anfield, Lijnders made the following statement: “To start with, some not-so-good news: Trent hyper-extended his knee during the last game.
He will therefore need time to heal from a small tear in his knee’s lateral ligament. After his scan, which will keep him out of commission for several weeks, we’ll see.
“After getting some rest, he should be able to return to his previous state. Because this player consistently created for us from deep and gave the team a sense of decisiveness throughout every game a great degree of adaptability.
“He will be sorely missed.”
Lijnders also disclosed that Dominik Szoboszlai is still injured but Virgil van Dijk is back in the lineup following his illness-related absence from the Arsenal match.
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The England player is not expected to play until the very end of the month after hyperextending his joint during Sunday’s FA Cup victory against Arsenal, tearing a lateral ligament in the process.
Due to Liverpool’s winter break, he might only miss three games: the Premier League match at Bournemouth and both legs of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham. He might also return for Chelsea’s visit on January 31.
The team is already lacking in central defenseman Joel Matip, and they are also short at the back with left backs Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, and Joe Gomez filling in.
However, Alexander-Arnold’scrucialrole in the team’s operations is his entry into midfield in his now-familiar hybrid role, with two goals and eight assists so far this season, which makes living without him extremely difficult.
Lijnders, though, is adamant that they will resolve the issue—as they have already done with Mohamed Salah’s trip to the African Cup of Nations.
The assistant manager of the Reds stated prior to the first leg against Fulham, “We have many weapons so there is no one irreplaceable here.”
“Mo leaves, and Jota (Diogo) takes over. We always do that when we play really well, as we did in the second half against Arsenal, even when our best players aren’t available.
“One, two, three, or four players are not enough for us. Three essential members of our leadership group are absent: Naturally, Robbo, Trent, and Mo’s loss is heartbreaking.
“Now that Trent is gone, we have even more problems to solve, but this team is so talented and strong that anything can be replaced as long as counter-pressing is present.”
Due to Alexander-Arnold’sinjury,Liverpool is now without the four players who have produced the most opportunities per ninety minutes for them this year: Salah, Robertson, and Dominik Szoboszlai, who is sidelined for the match against Fulham due to a hamstring injury.
Conor Bradley, 20, who made an impressive cameo at right-back in the Emirates, Luke Chambers, 19, or Owen Beck, 19, who was recently called back from a loan at Dundee, on the left, and moving Gomez seem to be the options to go back to the right.
However, none of these choices could possibly close the gap left by Alexander-Arnold’sabsence.
“He can play passes that the forwards really like, he creates a lot of flexibility from the back, and he knows how to decide games and knows where to put balls,” Lijnders continued.
“I think the squad has a lot of other qualities, but we definitely need to find some new dynamics.”
The management has faith in their young players who are on the periphery of the squad, so there won’t be a transfer window used to address issues that are considered temporary.
“The summer was a costly one for us financially. We made a significant investment in the team, and the ownership brought in the right players, according to Lijnders.
“Conor and Bobby (Clark) are members of our team; they are not reserve players. They are created for games like this, they are young and hungry.
“Young athletes simply require the chance. They only require the coaching staff’s trust; they don’t require criticism.”
