Exclusive Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool must be nearly flawless to compete with Man City for the Premier League championship.

Liverpool finished last season 22 points behind champions Manchester City, despite finding form in the closing months of the season to finish fifth; Watch Chelsea vs Liverpool on Super Sunday 13th August live on Sky Sports, kick off 4.30pm.

Trent Alexander-Arnold says it is “needed” for Liverpool to finish higher in the Premier League table next season and admits they need to be “almost perfect” to challenge Manchester City.
Jürgen Klopp’s side missed out on the Champions League, finishing fifth the previous season, 22 points behind Manchester City.

When asked how confident he was in Liverpool as they improve from fifth place, the England international exclusively told Sky Sports News: “I think as a club we need to be honest.

You know, we respect every competition we play in, but if you he asked around this time last year, would you like to finish fifth, we would all say no and same thing again.

“Do we want to finish fifth next season? No. We want to win the league, we want to rise to the challenge and be in the hunt for the title and in Champions League football, so it’s disappointing not to be there next season.”

“We know how to win the league, we know how to challenge and match City and you have to be close to perfection all season, so that’s our target.”

To be close to perfection, Liverpool need to improve their away form. Defeats like Wolves and Bournemouth have cost them dearly.

“It’s consistency,” Alexander-Arnold said. “Throughout the season we’ve had good results against the big teams, but we’ve lost points and lost points, especially away from home. So those are the things that we all naturally thought about and that we have to correct.

The 24-year-old impressed in a hybrid role for his club in the latter stages of the previous season, playing as an inverted right-back pushing through midfield.
He then played in forward midfield for England in the recent Euro 2024 qualifiers, brilliant against Malta and North Macedonia.

Asked about the prospect of playing a similar role next season, a smile breaks out and his eyes sparkle.

“It’s not my decision,” Alexander-Arnold said. “I only play where I’m told so all I can say is I love playing football, I love playing at right-back and I love playing at centre-back over a large part of the playing field.”

“It’s a place where I find joy and I like the challenge of both. So you know I would love to play there next season, but it’s not up to me to choose where to play.”

Upon his return to Liverpool pre-season training, Alexander-Arnold will work alongside new midfield signings Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, a pair he describes as a “dream player” as they can use his skills to increase his number of assists.

Liverpool’s preparatory training methods are notoriously difficult and Alexander-Arnold recently returned from a week-long preparatory training camp in Oregon, USA, to help his body prepare: “They are really difficult, I would say.” They last. I would say that some pre-seasons are longer than others.
“Overall, I like them.

You know, I love being with the team, traveling, staying in hotels and being together like a base camp where you can socialize and get to know each other.

“You are growing together and you are all working for the coming season. It’s exciting because nobody knows how it’s going to go, but you go to work hoping for the best and making sure you understand.”

Liverpool start the new Premier League season at Chelsea on Sunday August 13 live on Sky Sports. The west Londoners have a new head coach in Mauricio Pochettino but the Reds defender is aiming for a fast start to the season: “They struggled last season.

I’m sure they brought in a good coach, they brought in. “I lost a few players and got rid of a lot. I’m sure they’re just trying to find stability and work from there.

“Under the new manager they will have time to work on that and hopefully find stability, but for us and myself right now my focus is just on Liverpool and making sure we let’s get off to a good start.”

Liverpool’s 2023/24 Premier League fixtures

Sky Sports News spoke to Trent Alexander-Arnold at Under Armor’s Human Performance Center in Portland, where he was attending a pre-season training camp.

Liverpool open the 2023/24 Premier League season with a match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which will be shown live on Sky Sports on Sunday August 13. This weekend opener will be Mauricio Pochettino’s first game as Blues manager while Everton travel to Anfield in the first Merseyside derby of the season on October 21.

Jurgen Klopp’s side will meet champions Man City at the Etihad on November 25 and in December Liverpool will face Man Utd and Arsenal in back-to-back home matches on December 16 and 23.

On January 31 and February 3, respectively, and March 9 and 17, respectively, Man City visit Anfield before Liverpool travels across Stanley Park to play Everton the following week, the Reds also have challenging-looking matches against Chelsea at home and away, respectively.

On April 6, Klopp’s team travels to Old Trafford, where on the final day of the season, the Reds play Wolves.