Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has admitted that he was guilty of underestimating Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford and consequently experienced his most difficult outing with his fellow English compatriot.
Rashford was deployed as a left-handed winger by former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho and scored twice in the first 24 minutes when Liverpool visited Old Trafford in a 2-1 defeat on in March last year. Alexander-Arnold was making only his 15th Premier League start at the time in a hostile environment and had a torrid time against the United attacker and was replaced on the 80th-minute mark.
The 21-year-old defender has since lined up against teams including five-time Ballon d’Or winners Lionel Messi of Barcelona and former Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo but his battle against Rashford remains his most testing one so far.
The Reds youngster spoke to the Athletic and explained that he had underestimated Marcus Rashford when Liverpool faced United and the 22-year-old remains his toughest opponent till date, “[That match against United was] the toughest in terms of a direct opponent and someone getting on top of me in professional football. I’d say I underestimated him, It was a massive learning curve for me. It was something that I hated happening. As a Liverpool player, it’s probably the worst game of the season to perform like that. But when things like that happen you have to learn from them.
Alexander Arnold further added that it was a wakeup call in his early days as a defender and that has shaped him into not underestimating anyone else ever since, “It was a wake-up call. You hate days like that. You don’t want to experience that. You remember how it felt and that makes you try everything you possibly can to ensure you don’t have another one like it.”
Rashford scored against Liverpool once again this season but the Reds managed to salvage a point at Old Trafford through a late Adam Lallana equalizer.
