Liverpool’s lack of fight at Bournemouth unacceptable — Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander-Arnold has described Liverpool’s lack of fight in their Premier League defeat to Bournemouth as “unacceptable”.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, who thrashed rivals Manchester United 7-0 last weekend, were brought crashing down to earth on their return to action on Saturday as Philip Billing’s only goal earned the Cherries a priceless win in the battle at the bottom.

Mohamed Salah missed a second-half penalty as Liverpool faltered in their chase for the Champions League qualification places.

England international Alexander-Arnold was understandably disappointed with the result but more so the manner of it.

“This is the time of the season when everyone knows what they are fighting for and obviously Bournemouth are in a relegation battle,” he told the club’s official website.

“They are fighting for survival. But every team in the league is fighting for something so it means a lot to get the three points.

“I think looking back on it now, they probably wanted it more than us and that is something that is unacceptable and we need to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”

Liverpool now head to Spain looking to overturn the 5-2 first-leg deficit in their Champions League last-16 tie with Real Madrid.

Alexander-Arnold sees it as the perfect opportunity to bounce back.

“There’s only one more game before the internationals and it’s a huge one for us,” he added.

“It’s one that we need to go and do something special, so all our focus is solely on that Real Madrid game now and it means that we can put everything into that game knowing that we’ve got days afterwards to recover.

“So, it’s about throwing the kitchen sink at it and going all out and I think that’s what we’re going to do – it’s important to do that. Then we’ll get ready for an important run-in.”

Liverpool next return to domestic action away at Manchester City on April 1.

GO DEEPER

Will the real Liverpool please stand up?

(Photo by Robin Jones: AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)