05 March 2023 , 14:15
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Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has admitted "it burns" to see Manchester United succeed during a challenging season for his own club.
Jurgen Klopp's side won both domestic cups in the 2021-22 season, including a Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea. This time, though, it was United's turn to lift the trophy after putting two unanswered goals past Newcastle.
Liverpool have also been playing catch-up to their rivals in the Premier League, having finished ahead of them in three of the four previous seasons. However, it was the silverware - United's first since back in 2017 - which really stung for the right-back.
“I watched the game, but as soon as they were getting ready for the trophy lift I turned off. I thought, ‘There is no way I am watching that’,” Alexander-Arnold told The Telegraph. "Knowing they lifted that trophy? It burns. Oh yeah. It definitely burns.”
“It shows you how football changes very quickly,” the England international added. While Liverpool finished more than 30 points clear of United en route to a second-place finish in 2021-22, a slow start - including an August defeat at Old Trafford - left Klopp's men 10 points adrift of their rivals going into the reverse fixture at Anfield.
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"Even the start of this season when they [United] lost to Brentford. How many people were saying ‘here we go again?’ Now they’re flying. It happens," he said..
"That is why I am not going to allow myself to get over consumed with what has happened to us right now because I know in a few months, or possibly even weeks, it will change. I am determined to keep level-headed and balanced about what has gone on.”
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Man Utd's Carabao Cup win was their first trophy since 2017 (James Marsh/REX/Shutterstock)Ahead of the Anfield match, United boss Erik ten Hag spoke of his desire for a fierce atmosphere. “I'm looking forward to it, the ambience, the atmosphere,” the Dutchman said ahead of his first Premier League trip to the stadium as a manager. “It will be great, it will be hostile against us, but we like that.
“Of course it's a test, but we're facing Liverpool, we're really looking forward to it and I know these players, my squad, my team, will be prepared to go there and fight and to go with confidence. We know it's going to be difficult, we know we will have to suffer and we will have to sacrifice to get a good result.
“We have to play and to make it our game. Of course, we know the ambience will not be supporting us and you have to deal with that. But, as I said, our players, they like it. They like to play in such atmospheres.”