Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has claimed that there is "no defensive problem" with Trent Alexander-Arnold following his stellar display in Tuesday's 2-0 Champions League win over Rangers.
The 23-year-old's performances have come under increased scrutiny this season, and he did not earn any minutes for England during the most recent international break.
Alexander-Arnold has been widely criticized for his perceived defensive shortcomings, but he put in a much-improved display as the Reds returned to winning ways against Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side.
Alexander-Arnold opened the scoring on the night with a delightful seventh-minute free kick before Mohamed Salah's penalty sealed victory for Liverpool, who now sit second in Group A behind Napoli.
Speaking to reporters in his post-game press conference, Klopp lauded Alexander-Arnold for his "wonderful" opener while also affirming that the England international is competent defensively.
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"A wonderful goal. What can I say? I would now say, 'It's Trent!', but it's long ago that he last scored a free-kick, so I am happy he had this still in his locker," Klopp said.
"He played a good game, defensively especially, a wonderful goal. How I said, we set it up differently. We cannot talk about it every week, but Trent has no defensive problem; we had a defensive problem – hopefully had – because our timing was not right and we take risk in defending, everybody knows that.
"If then the timing is not right, you open gaps and these gaps are very often [in] the back of Trent. Not because of him, but because of other situations and then he has to track back. Yes, how I said, we were not in the perfect moment and that's why we just adjusted it slightly."
Klopp made three changes for the meeting with Rangers and strayed away from his usual 4-3-3 system, as Salah, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez all started together for the first time.
Nunez was making just his third start in Liverpool colours, and while he did not find the back of the net on the night, Klopp was encouraged by his overall display.
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"The way the boys moved up front today together I thought was extremely, extremely good for only one session working on it, to be honest," Klopp added.
"We never did it before, we had now one session with a low intensity because we only played recently. So, you just see how good a striker he is to be constantly in these situations. I think everybody saw tonight that this [scoring goals] will happen, so all good."
Liverpool now have six points to boast from their opening three fixtures in Group A, with the perfect Napoli still leading the way after demolishing Ajax 6-1 in Amsterdam.
The Reds now have a week before renewing hostilities with Rangers at Ibrox, and Klopp's side are now turning their attention to Sunday's Premier League clash with leaders Arsenal.
Ben Knapton
