Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has insisted that his side did nothing wrong against Newcastle United on Thursday and has claimed that teammate Mo Salah is the ‘best in the world right now’.
The Egyptian took his tally for the season to 22 goals in the 3-1 victory at Anfield whilst Alexander-Arnold secured all three points with a wonder strike from outside the box.
“Best in the world right now, it goes without saying,” said the England international (via the Liverpool Echo).
“He’s scoring or creating, doing everything game by game. He’s having an incredible season, that’s on his mind.
“He wants to break every record but he wants to go on to put his name in the history books.
“He’s been doing that since the first season he’s come in and he hasn’t took his foot off the pedal so he’ll be looking to break every record he can again.”
The former Roma man put his side 2-1 up before the break with a clinical rebound finish after Sadio Mane’s effort was saved by Martin Dubravka put only parried into his path.
Eddie Howe claimed his side were ‘harshly treated’ by referee Mike Dean after Jurgen Klopp’s side equalised whilst Newcastle midfielder Isaac Hayden was down in his own box holding his head.
But Liverpool’s No. 66 insisted his side just ‘played to the whistle’ and did nothing wrong.
“When the game is going on like that in their box you’re not really looking around at who’s on the ground, who’s up, you can’t, you’re looking for your teammates trying to score,” Alexander-Arnold added.
“Your eyes aren’t focused on the ground but if it’s head injuries it’s up to the referee to stop it he didn’t and we played on until the whistle and scored and that’s all you can do.
“We haven’t cheated or done anything unsportsman-like, we’ve played to the whistle and scored from it.”
One of the main things any young footballers are taught and advised to do when learning the game is to ‘play to the whistle’ – the officials didn’t feel the need to stop the game and therefore the Reds just continued their attack towards the away side’s goal.
It’s understandably frustrating for Howe and his side, but it’s an issue to be discussed with the officials and not the opposition.