Trent Alexander-Arnold aims dig at “excited” Arsenal for losing control of title race

Liverpool vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold has aimed a dig at Arsenal when discussing the Premier League title race, with Manchester City now heavy favourites

Trent Alexander-Arnold has taken a dig at Arsenal’s mentality, suggesting they “got too excited” ahead of their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

The slip-up saw Arsenal hand Manchester City all the momentum in the Premier League title race, with Pep Guardiola’s side now two points clear of both the Gunners and Liverpool with just six games remaining.

Liverpool also slipped up that weekend, suffering a surprise 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace, and Alexander-Arnold believes that result “played a part” in Arsenal’s defeat to Villa. He told Sky Sports: “If those fixtures were reversed and we played second and Arsenal played first maybe it would’ve been a different mentality.

“It all comes down to mentality. I think our result played a part in Arsenal’s result. They have potentially got too excited and thought this is our chance, this is what we need to do. Maybe they overthought things whereas if we and City both won it made them think, ‘we need to just win’ rather than it being a chance to breakaway from the pack.

“None of us have been in a three-horse race, so it’s difficult.” City are unbeaten in the league since December and are set to face Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Wolves, Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham in their final six games.

And while Alexander-Arnold readily admits that City are usually “borderline perfect” at the business end of the season, he remains optimistic that “anything can happen”. He added: “Arsenal experienced it, we’ve experienced it two or three times, when you get into a title race with Man City they are borderline perfect.

“You can’t slip up or make mistakes. If you give them the upper hand they don’t really blink in those moments. They don’t seem vulnerable. It’s a well-oiled machine. That’s what they do, they click and there’s no stopping them.

Manchester City are in pole position to win the Premier League this year ( Image: Getty Images)

“Giving them this advantage with six games to go is almost like handing them the title. All we can do is hope someone does us a favour and get our goal difference up. We’ve got six games left, it’ll fly by.

“Our aim is to win every game – that’s all we can and try to capitalise. It will be difficult but I’ve seen over the last few weeks of odds and percentage chances of who is going to win the league has fluctuated with just one result.

“Anything can happen in the Premier League. They are a fantastic team with the squad they’ve got, the manager, it’s hard to think they won’t win it at this point. Stranger things have happened in the Premier League.”