“Trent didn’t play his best game,” said Slot before the EFL Cup game

Liverpool coach Arne Slot says Trent Alexander-Arnold is ready to face Tottenham in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday after his poor performance against Manchester United.

Alexander-Arnold has been linked with a move to Real Madrid this month and was out of form in Sunday’s thrilling 2-2 draw at Anfield.

But Slot says the entire squad is ready to respond against Tottenham, highlighting their excellent season so far.

He said: “I think we were all disappointed (with Sunday’s draw against Manchester United), not just Trent Alexander-Arnold, we were all disappointed.”

“First of all, let’s talk about the result. Parts of our game that we weren’t entirely happy with. It wasn’t just Trent, there were more things we could have done better.

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“Trent didn’t play his best game, but some others didn’t play their best either.

“If you play 50, 60 games in a season, one of them won’t be your best performance. Maybe we should highlight that these players are playing so well despite playing two games a week.

“I think it will benefit every player (not just Trent Alexander-Arnold – playing again tomorrow). Everyone wants to play. Almost everyone is fit.”

Liverpool have lost just once in all competitions under Slot this season – against Nottingham Forest – and have won a remarkable 23 out of 28 games so far.

They won the EFL Cup for the tenth time last season and go into Wednesday’s game at Tottenham as favorites to defend their title.

Like Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk are also out of contract this summer, but Slot says they remain focused on winning.

“When Mohamed Salah misses a penalty against Real Madrid, he is distracted by his ‘contract situation’,” said Slot.

“If Trent isn’t playing well, he’ll be distracted by his ‘contract situation.’

“If everyone plays well, no one will be distracted by their ‘contract distraction.’

“I don’t focus on social media posts or what people say. If you do that as Liverpool manager you won’t have a life anymore because people are always talking about us.”