Liverpool are fourth and 13 points behind leaders Manchester City after losing 3-1 at Leicester; Jurgen Klopp's side face RB Leipzig in the first leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League on Tuesday
Monday 15 February 2021 08:21, UK
Trent Alexander-Arnold says Liverpool will see Tuesday's Champions League tie with RB Leipzig as a welcome distraction after their Premier League title defence was left in tatters.
Boss Jurgen Klopp has given up on retaining the Premier League crown after Saturday's damaging 3-1 defeat at Leicester.
Liverpool conceded three times in the final 12 minutes - including goalkeeper Alisson gifting Jamie Vardy a goal which put the hosts ahead - to leave them fourth and 13 points behind leaders Manchester City.
They face RB Leipzig in the first leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League on Tuesday and Alexander-Arnold knows the significance of the encounter.
He said: "In situations like this, you want the opportunity to put it right as soon as possible. It's a different competition, which always freshens it up, different mentality going into it.
"It's always nice to play in that so it's exciting to have the prospect of a knockout game of football again. You wait so long for the knockout rounds of the Champions League - it's always exciting.
"We need to recover and go again because we've got a big game come Tuesday."
James Maddison, Vardy and Harvey Barnes scored in a frantic final period at the King Power Stadium after Mo Salah had given Liverpool a second-half lead.
Alisson handed Leicester the advantage with nine minutes left when he came for Youri Tielemans' ball and collided with Ozan Kabak instead.
"I think for 70 to 75 minutes we were outstanding, up there with one of our best performances - counter-pressing, taking the ball off them for fun, they couldn't really get out," Alexander-Arnold added.
"I think in the first half we never created too many clear-cut chances but second half we did, had a few more shots, scored, and we were in the driving seat.
"Then the tables turned and they put the game to bed within the matter of five to 10 minutes and that's football. It happened so quickly, it just happened in a moment and we've just crumbled at the end of the day."
By Nick Wright
For 78 minutes of Saturday's game at the King Power Stadium, it seemed Liverpool were feeling their way back into form.
The defence had coped well with Leicester's attacking threat despite a fresh wave of injuries. Mohamed Salah's superb finish had given them a deserved lead. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher would later describe their performance as "outstanding" up until that point and Jurgen Klopp's verdict was similar.
"We were the clear dominant side," said the Liverpool manager afterwards. "We played the football we wanted to play, we avoided their counter-attacks, we did pretty much everything you have to do, we scored a really nice goal and we had more chances…"
Ultimately, though, what happened next is what matters.
Liverpool's good work was undone in the space of just seven minutes in the East Midlands, when a 1-0 lead became a two-goal deficit and Klopp's side were plunged right back into the mire again.
