Jurgen Klopp has confirmed he hooked Trent Alexander-Arnold off at half-time against Burnley as an injury precaution.
Liverpool fans are fearing the worst after the full-back was substituted midway through the Premier League clash at Anfield, having provided the assist for the Reds’ opener.
Alexander-Arnold was making just his second start since recovering from a knee injury that kept him out for three weeks.
The right-back made an impact on the game in half an hour and provided an assist for Diogo Jota from a corner for the opening goal.
That assist made him the defender who has provided the most goals in Premier League history.
But soon after that memorable moment, his afternoon at Anfield ended as he was taken off at the break.
Curtis Jones was moved to right-back, with Klopp confirming after the game that he was being ‘careful’ with Alexander-Arnold’s knee.
“He felt it a little bit, in the same area in the knee where he had the last injury, so we have to see, we have to asses that,” Klopp told talkSPORT at Anfield.
“He looked alright but felt it a little bit, so we had to take him off.
“And then with the situation we have availability-wise we had to put Curtis at right-back and he did extremely well, I have to say.
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“That’s probably the best thing about the whole game, how the boys accepted the difficulties, took them, tried to fight through it and got a very well deserved result.”
There was plenty of concern from supporters that the early withdrawal was possibly to do with a recurrence of his injury, with one Liverpool fan writing on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Should be said TAA didn’t look ‘at it’.
“Could be that recent layoff, the illness in the squad.”
Another said: “I‘m scared. Fear we rushed him back.”
“Is Trent injured?” asked another fan, while another supporter wrote: “What happened? Hope not an injury.”
Liverpool were already without Alisson and Joe Gomez due to illness, while Ibrahima Konate was suspended and impressive youngster Connor Bradley has yet to play since the recent death of his father.
And if Alexander-Arnold is also unfit, the Reds have been dealt with a crisis with multiple key players sidelined.
Despite his absence in the second-half, though, Liverpool managed to seal a 3-1 victory at Anfield to maintain their place at the top of the table.
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And it was the man who replaced Alexander-Arnold who was the star, with substitute Harvey Elliott providing two assists.
Burnley threatened to cause an upset when Dara O’Shea pulled the visitors level just before half-time with a header in the box.
But Elliott shone off the bench as his low cross was converted by Luis Diaz from close-range just after the break to make it 2-1.
And he was at it again late on as his lofted ball into the penalty area was brilliantly headed in by a towering Darwin Nunez to seal all three points.