Alexander-Arnold a doubt for Carabao Cup final

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is a huge doubt for the League Cup final against Newcastle United this weekend after sustaining an injury in Tuesday’s Champions League round of 16 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, manager Arne Slot said.

PSG beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties at Anfield to reach the quarterfinals after winning the second-leg 1-0.

Alexander-Arnold, 26, was replaced by Jarell Quansah in the 73rd minute, with reports saying he suffered an ankle injury.

“[Trent] had to come off. That’s never a good sign,” Slot said. “And from what I heard from people that saw the images or how he got injured, it did not look very good. So I would be surprised if he is available for Sunday.”

Centre back Ibrahima Konaté limped off in the second half of extra time but Slot said that was probably due to fatigue.

Alexander-Arnold’s injury would also be a blow for England, who host Albania on March 21 and Latvia three days later in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Slot called the team’s exit from the Champions League a shock but took solace in losing to an excellent PSG team in a wildly entertaining two-legged tie.

In what Slot labelled “the best game of football I’ve ever been involved in” PSG beat Liverpool 4-1 in the shootout to advance to the quarterfinals, winning Tuesday’s second-leg match at Anfield 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembele.

“Yeah, of course it’s a shock,” Slot said. “But if you have to go out, and go out in a way like we did against one of the best teams in Europe and make such a fight out of it, I hope and think that every fan around the world was hoping that this game just kept on going, that it wouldn’t stop because it was incredible.

“And they, in the end, won.”