Arne Slot admits Alexander-Arnold vs PSG ‘difficulties’ as ‘statistics do not tell the truth’

Arne Slot says that Trent Alexander-Arnold “really defended well” against Paris Saint-Germain, claiming that sometimes the “statistics do not tell the truth” when the Liverpool star recovered from “difficulties.”

Alisson was the hero of the Reds when a series of miraculous salvages was carried out Keep Slot’s side in the game before a goal from Smash-And-Grab of the late substitute Harvey Elliott made sure they would take an advantage of a goal back to Anfield for the second leg.

PSG dominated the game, with the three strikers of Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvarathskhelia causing huge problems in the first in particular.

Alexander-Arnold, whose defensive ability has been questioned frequently, was defeated a couple of times in the right of Liverpool, but Rio Ferdinand was impressed by what he saw in the international of England.

Ferdinand said in TNT Sports: “I tell you one thing, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been questioned very defensively, especially in situations of a V-one, but so far he has faced each test.”

Kvarathskhelia had ruled out a goal for the offside and forced a couple of bright salvations from Alisson, but its impact decreased in the second half and when Ferdinand’s thoughts were reported on the defense of Alexander-Arnold against the PSG strikers, the slot joined his performance.

“I see the same during the season many more times,” said Liverpool chief coach when he asked about Alexander-Arnold.

“There have been games, I think City Away was one of them, where it was overcome several times, but we did not recognize that many great opportunities against City, so sometimes statistics do not tell you the truth.”

“If you happen to someone in the width of the field, it does not tell you that it is overcome,” Slot added. “The statistics that are important, I only said sometimes, they are clear that Paris Saint-Germain is this incredible season in Europe and in its league.

“Trent, in the first half, once or twice he had some difficulties, but in general he defended himself very well, especially in the second half.”

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Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah had a very limited impact on the game compared to their PSG counterparts and the slot is very aware that the work is not done despite their slender leader due to the quality of Luis Enrique’s side.

“They were shown today, and I already knew, but the players also saw him today, and our fans and all England, which Luis Enrique made an incredible team here after three windows (transfer),” he added.

“So much rhythm, so much work rate, so much quality in the center of the field, how they handle the ball. Then, it was an incredible challenge for us to escape here with a result and we know that it will be difficult in a week. “