The former Liverpool ace is due to step foot on Anfield turf for the first time since his move to Real Madrid \u2014 but there\u2019s serious uncertainty over whether he\u2019ll actually play.<\/p>\n
Just a day before Real Madrid\u2019s Champions League showdown with Liverpool, doubts have emerged over Trent Alexander-Arnold\u2019s long-awaited return. The defender, whose switch to Madrid last summer sparked huge controversy, left the Reds for a reported \u00a310m fee shortly before his contract expired.<\/p>\n
Since arriving in Spain, the England international has struggled to settle, failing to secure a regular starting spot before a hamstring injury ruled him out for several weeks.<\/p>\n
Now 27, Alexander-Arnold is set for what could be the most emotionally charged night of his Madrid career, returning to the stadium where he became a Champions League and two-time Premier League winner \u2014 but fresh reports claim the situation has taken a worrying turn.<\/p>\n
His most recent appearance for Los Blancos came back in mid-September, when he limped off just minutes into their clash with Marseille. Although he was named on the bench for El Cl\u00e1sico last weekend, The Athletic reports that he is still not fully fit \u2014 a key reason he wasn\u2019t used.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s fixture lands in week seven of his eight-week recovery programme, meaning a starting role at Anfield is now viewed as highly unlikely. With Dani Carvajal also injured, Federico Valverde is expected to fill in at right-back again.<\/p>\n
Even so, Madrid boss \u2014 and Liverpool icon \u2014 Xabi Alonso hasn\u2019t completely ruled Trent out. Speaking ahead of the tie, he said:<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s fine. He didn\u2019t play because of the situation in the last game, but he\u2019s available. We need his qualities. He\u2019s entering a new phase physically, mentally, and football-wise. He\u2019s an exceptional player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alonso also reflected on the emotional side of the occasion, adding:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a European classic. Trent and I share history here, and it\u2019s special to return to a place where we were loved \u2014 but we\u2019re here to get a result.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The former Liverpool ace is due to step foot on Anfield turf for the first time since his move to Real Madrid \u2014 but there\u2019s serious uncertainty over whether he\u2019ll actually play. Just a day before Real Madrid\u2019s Champions League showdown with Liverpool, doubts have emerged over Trent Alexander-Arnold\u2019s long-awaited return. The defender, whose switch …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":53566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/resize-1.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53567,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53565\/revisions\/53567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}