Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Liverpool’s trophy hunt hit by AlexanderArnold injury
LIVERPOOL’S quest for a clean sweep of four major trophies this season has been dealt a blow with rightback Trent Alexander-Arnold set to be sidelined for weeks by a hamstring injury.
Alexander-Arnold will miss Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Nottingham Forest and England’s upcoming friendlies against the Ivory Coast and Switzerland.
Of most concern for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, though, is whether he will be fit in time for both legs of his side’s Champions League quarter-final either side of a potential Premier League title decider away to Manchester City.
“Trent is out with a hamstring. He cannot be part of England as well so not good news, we will see how long that takes,” Klopp said yesterday.
Alexander-Arnold already has a career-high 17 assists in all competitions this season and Klopp does not have a like-for-like replacement with centre-back Joe Gomez or veteran James Milner likely to deputise.
“To replace Trent is difficult, but possible,” added Klopp.
“The way he plays, I don’t know any player in the world who plays like Trent to be honest, that would be difficult to find a one-to-one replacement.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is hoping a quick sale of the European champions will provide clarity for employees and fans of the club.
Final bids for the club were submitted yesterday.
Chelsea were put up for sale after current owner Roman Abramovich was hit by sanctions by the British government for his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin as the latter wages war on Ukraine.
Chelsea have been granted a special licence to continue operating but with revenue from their income streams frozen, they will quickly run out of cash to meet their expenses, including a £28 million (about R551 million) monthly wage bill, unless control is passed to a new owner.
“We hope we find a new owner soon because this will calm the situation down,” Tuchel said ahead of today’s trip to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Chelsea have experienced unprecedented success during Abramovich’s 19 years in charge, winning 19 major trophies including five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues.
Tuchel’s preparations for today’s match have been helped by an easing of restrictions on the amount Chelsea can spend on travel, which will allow them to fly to the north-east of England rather than a 10-hour round trip by bus.
Chelsea are expected to get a hostile reception at the Riverside Stadium after an audacious request for the match to be played behind closed doors on sporting integrity grounds due to their inability to sell tickets to away fans.
That request was quickly withdrawn and Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder said there is little sympathy for Chelsea’s predicament.
“It will go up for sale and it will be bought by a billionaire, who will possibly invest more money into it,” said Wilder, whose side have already eliminated Manchester United and Tottenham to reach the last eight.
In other FA Cup quarter-final matches Everton visit Crystal Palace this afternoon while Southampton host Manchester City tomorrow.