No prizes for guessing which Liverpool player will be on the back page of the papers tomorrow morning after today’s win away to Leicester City.
In his first appearance for the Reds since it emerged in late March that he’s close to agreeing a free transfer to Real Madrid this summer, the 26-year-old came off the bench and needed just five minutes to score his team’s decisive goal at the King Power Stadium.
The England international was invited by Virgil van Dijk to lap up the fans’ acclaim after the match, while even one of his fiercest critics in Roy Keane hailed him as ‘fantastic’ and ‘brilliant’ for the club.
However, while Trent will inevitably grab the headlines, the contributions of his teammates to securing a hard-fought win against Leicester – who could only hold out for so long before defeat saw their relegation confirmed – mustn’t be ignored either.
Alexis Mac Allister was excellent in narrow Liverpool victory
It was actually Alexis Mac Allister who was named by Sky Sports as Player of the Match, and it’s difficult to argue with that shout.
The Argentine has been a consistently superb presence in Liverpool’s midfield all season, and today he was soemthing of an unsung hero for the Reds, which might seem paradoxical given the previous sentence, but hear us out!
In his post-match player ratings for the Liverpool Echo, Ian Doyle praised the ex-Brighton star as the visitors’ ‘most creative’ presence in the first half, saying that he was ‘the one looking to make things happen’ as the league leaders struggled to break down Leicester.
Mac Allister ‘continued to probe as the visitors dominated’ after the interval, and his match statistics from Sofascore also illustrate an understated yet pivotal controbution to the victory.
The 2022 World Cup winner chipped in with five successful duels, two clearances and three tackles in a selfless display, while his efforts to unlock the Foxes’ defence were underlined by a tally of three key passes and five successful crosses. In additon, he completed 39 passes out of 44 attempted (89% success).
He’s played every single minute of the Reds’ last four matches and started 29 out of our 33 league games this season (Transfermarkt). Based on today’s showing, it’s easy to see why Arne Slot trusts him week in, week out.
