Arne Slot speaks out on Trent Alexander Arnold's nightmare display vs Man Utd amid intensifying Real Madrid transfer talk

Manchester United were able to take a point away from Anfield thanks to goals from Lisandro Martinez and Amad Diallo, which cancelled out Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah's efforts for Liverpool. However, the key player in focus through the clash was Alexander-Arnold, who made a number of key mistakes, including setting the Red Devils up for a four-on-two counter late on, which prompted a fierce stare of disapproval from Reds captain Virgil van Dijk. Slot spoke out on Alexander-Arnold's performance in front of the media, and insisted he was not affected by the intensifying speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid.

Slot said: "I don't believe in those things. I think nine out of 10 people will tell you that it affected him, but I'm one of the 10 that tells you I don't think that affected him.

"What I think affected him was that he had to play Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot who are two starters for Portugal, great, great players. We have a fantastic player here in Diogo Jota and he's not even playing for Portugal, so that tells you how much quality United have. And if these players set themselves to a game, and that is what United once in a while does, then it's very difficult to play against them.

"I think it is more difficult for Trent to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot than it is the rumours that were there in the week. That's my opinion, but everyone will probably tell you it's to do with the rumours."

Talking further about Alexander-Arnold's performance, Slot added: "It was clear Trent had some difficult moments as we as a team had but that is also for Trent not the first time. I think the majority of games he has played for this club he was very, very good but I can't believe if people tell me he's never played a bad game for this club, so that's probably happened before and mostly against quality players like United have."

The Liverpool right-back is unlikely to leave Liverpool in January despite the reports suggesting Real Madrid are interested in completing the signing this month. Alexander-Arnold will be expected to start again when the Reds take on Tottenham in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday.