Alexander-Arnold and Jones in worrying sight arriving at Carabao Cup final

Liverpool fans will be worried about the sight of Trent Alexander-Arnold arriving for the Carabao Cup final in a leg brace. 

The 25-year-old had been ruled out of the Wembley showpiece against Chelsea having suffered a recurrence of a knee injury first sustained against Arsenal in the FA Cup in January. 

Alexander-Arnold attempted a comeback in the Premier League against Burnley on February 10 but only lasted 45 minutes. 

It was then confirmed that the England international had aggravated his lateral collateral ligament injury and he would be ruled out of contention for the cup final and beyond. 

Conor Bradley, the 20-year-old right back, has deputised well for Alexander-Arnold in his absence and started the Carabao Cup final in his place. 

Liverpool’s injury problems were compounded last weekend during the 4-1 Premier League win against Brentford. 

Klopp lost Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones throughout that clash while Mohamed Salah was confirmed to have picked up another knock, having first injured his hamstring at the Africa Cup of Nations.

That quartet were among the players who missed the midweek win against Luton Town and played no part in the cup final either. 

Jones was also seen feeling the effects of his injury, with the 23-year-old arriving at Wembley alongside the other players not in the matchday squad. 

He was wearing a medical boot as well as using a pair of crutches as he recovers from a high ankle sprain. 

Pep Lijnders, the Liverpool assistant manager, stated ahead of the weekend that he was optimistic that Jones would return to action around the international break in March but other players like Alisson Becker, Jota and Alexander-Arnold would take longer to come back. 

“Curtis is probably the first one around the international break. All the others will be after the international break,” he said. 

Liverpool were without 11 first-team players for the Carabao Cup final in total, including Dominik Szoboszlai, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic.