Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has paid tribute to Trent Alexander-Arnold after he scored at the Etihad against Manchester City.

Alexander-Arnold struggled against City striker Jeremy Doku, but still stepped up and scored the equalizer in the 80th minute, canceling out Erling Haaland’s first-half effort. His goal ended City’s run of 23 consecutive home wins in all competitions in 2023.

“Trent played a very good game, he had a big influence on us,” Klopp said. He also had some great moments with Doku and was really strong in his one-on-one moments. You can see how difficult it was. Doku is a very good dribbler and Trent is a big influence on him in a positive way. ”

Alexander-Arnold was awarded man of the match by Sky Sports and said:

“I just don’t think we played particularly well to be honest, especially in the first half. Their formation and setup really challenged us and they had a lot of players in there which was difficult to deal with but we regrouped at halftime, came back with more of a gameplan and pressed them.

“It’s always difficult subconsciously to play against Manchester City because you always have a lot of respect for them but in the second half, we put that respect to the aside and came to get a result.”

Micah Richards saw a clear difference between Alexander-Arnold’s performance in defence and in attack. He said on Sky Sports:

“For me today, we’ve seen the best and the worst of Trent today. From a full-backs perspective, his first thought is always how can he affect the ball going forward? How can he get up the pitch?

“But in situations today, there were times where he couldn’t affect the play defensively and now what he does is he gets into the role from right-back to midfield and this is where he’s best.

“A late-game effort like this is perfect for a player of his caliber and is an evolution of the defender. In my day it was ‘get back to your position’ and he still has to do his job and defend properly, but it’s different now.”

Manager Pep Guardiola insisted his team showed a renewed thirst for glory following last season’s victory.

“The players are still hungry,” he said. They don’t say,  ‘Oh, we won the Treble.’

“Look at how they ran, look at how they ran towards Chelsea. And yet they want to do it. If we win, everyone will be happy. But I think we should be more happy when we play like we did today and don’t win.

“It’s not easy to see the consistency for many years, winning everything and more. I know what I am talking about, honestly.”