Liverpool star 'playing with painkilling injections for weeks' and set to miss two upcoming matches

Liverpool are hopeful over the extent of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury, reports suggest.

The right-back was forced off midway through the first half of the Reds’ win over Aston Villa last Saturday. Alexander-Arnold pulled up with a hamstring issue and swiftly made it clear to head coach Arne Slot that he could not continue.

The vice-captain was replaced by Conor Bradley as Liverpool claimed a 2-0 victory to move five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table. Slot admitted it would be highly unlikely that Alexander-Arnold joins the England squad during the international break. It means he’s set to miss the Three Lions’ Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

"It's difficult to say how serious it is, but it's always serious if a player goes out in the first half," Slot told his post-match press conference. "Not because I didn't like him, but because he asked for it himself.

"He didn't ask for it because he was tired, he asked for it because he felt something. "That's first of all not a good sign, but it is always difficult so close after the game to tell you exactly what it is. Let's wait and see. "I would be surprised if we will see him playing for the England national team this week, but hopefully he can."

But according to The Athletic, the Reds feel that Alexander-Arnold will not face a ‘lengthy’ spell on the sidelines and he limited the damage sustained by being withdrawn early. It’s suggested that Alexander-Arnold has been playing with painkilling injections since suffering a strain when representing England against Finland last month. He was determined to continue to make himself available as Bradley returned from Northern Ireland duty with a rib issue that forced him out of three games.

Liverpool return to action when they travel to Southampton on Sunday 24 November before facing Real Madrid (Wednesday 1 December) and title rivals Man City (Sunday 1 December) at Anfield.