Trent Alexander-Arnold back to his best: Klopp
Pundit Murphy insists right-back should make England's Euro 2020 squad
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp believes Trent Alexander-Arnold has nothing to prove to England boss Gareth Southgate after the right-back rounded off a roller-coaster week with a stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Alexander-Arnold curled home a stunning strike from the edge of the box for only his second goal of the season as Liverpool boosted their Champions League qualification hopes with a 2-1 English Premier League win at Anfield with Southgate in attendance.
Ollie Watkins had given the visitors the lead before Mohamed Salah equalised in the 57th minute.
Alexander-Arnold, 22, has recently faced criticism for his form and was dropped from the England squad for last month's World Cup qualifiers.
He has since starred in last week's victory against Arsenal before making a costly error when they lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final, first leg.
But Klopp believes Alexander-Arnold deserves more space to mature as a footballer.
"I don't think he has to prove anything," Klopp said.
"You can play the best season of your life and the coach of the national team has to make decisions and we respect that.
"The only thing Trent is doing is playing his best football. In the last 10 days, twice he's played outstanding and now he scores a goal. The most important thing is we stop talking about it."
Former England striker Alan Shearer hailed Alexander-Arnold as the Reds' best player on the night.
"We're going to talk about him because of his brilliance today... He was bright, alert and he produced some very, very good moments. And I thought he was Liverpool's best player," the BBC pundit said.
Ex-Liverpool and England midfielder Danny Murphy added that the right-back is too good to be excluded from England's Euro 2020 final squad.
"I'm sure England forwards will be disappointed if Alexander-Arnold doesn't make the Euro squad," Murphy said in his Daily Mail column.
"His winner against Villa was further proof that he can do things no other English fullback can. I know Southgate is spoilt for choice in that position and someone will have to miss out, but it really shouldn't be Trent."
Next up for Liverpool is the visit of Real on Thursday morning (Singapore time) and Klopp said the win over Villa is the boost his side needed to overcome a 3-1 deficit from the first leg.
"A very important three points (against Villa) and whatever it will give us for Wednesday, we will use." - REUTERS
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