Liverpool required redemption at Anfield and there was no better person to deliver it than Trent Alexander-Arnold. A trying week for the
England international, indeed a trying year on home soil for the
Premier League champions, ended with the release of an emphatic 91st-minute winner against Aston Villa that maintained Liverpool’s momentum for a top-four finish. A long and damaging wait is over.
At the eighth time of asking, and after an unprecedented run of six successive defeats, Jürgen Klopp’s team could finally celebrate victory at Anfield in 2021 and one tinged with the satisfaction of avenging October’s 7-2 humiliation at Villa Park. Celebrate it they did. Klopp roared with a mix of joy and relief when Alexander-Arnold swept a stunning shot beyond Emiliano Martínez in stoppage time. His backroom staff sprung from the bench in all directions while the defender, widely criticised after an error-strewn display against
Real Madrid on Tuesday, stood in front of an empty Kop pointing to the Liver bird on his chest. Three invaluable points won and one important point made to the watching Gareth Southgate.