Liverpool

Neil Atkinson from The Anfield Wrap tells BBC Sport Liverpool will need to bring in competition for right-back Conor Bradley after Trent Alexander-Arnold confirmed he will leave this summer.

Football writer and broadcaster Henry Winter posting on social media platform X: "All this stuff about Trent Alexander-Arnold walking alone, it's ridiculous. Yes, hell hath no fury like a fan spurned but some perspective is needed.

"Don't be angry that Trent leaves, be thankful for the time together, the memories shared, the trophies won, the road travelled together. Madrid. Wembley. All over. Don't berate a renowned player with such venom that potential recruits are wary of coming to Liverpool. Don't give rival fans the chance to slate your treatment of a player. However painful, be respectful. Be proud that a local kid your club nurtured has blossomed into one of the best footballers on the planet. Show Liverpool's best traits. Support. Fans stay, professionals move, it's nothing new.

"Trent loves Liverpool personally but professionally he has to make career choices. He's 26. He's been offered the opportunity to play for the biggest club in the world in Real Madrid. He's not joining a domestic rival. He's going abroad, to an unbelievable stadium, city and club. He's going to a place as obsessed with the European Cup as Liverpool, perhaps even more so. He's going to be playing with his mate Jude and with fabulous talent like Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. He'll probably prefer playing with Vinicius Jr than against him. He'll be seeing more of the ball and spraying even more of those famous passes around. Especially if Xabi Alonso comes in as coach. Trent has earned this chance.

"Liverpool fans will be angry, frustrated, feeling let down. But Trent couldn't have revealed his intentions before. He focused on the 20, on being ready to come on and score a sublime, very difficult and hugely important goal as the strike against Leicester City. He's been respectful and today's statement is full of respect. So wish him well, however tough that may be. He's represented Liverpool well, the Scouser in the team. Now he will be the Scouser in the Real Madrid team. What an advertisement for Liverpool's academy, for Liverpool as a club developing such gems of players and people.

"Remember how much he's done for the community, food-banks, helping out those disadvantaged, giving another chance for those released by academies. He's got a moral compass. Liverpool's history is about the celebration of players and also that some leave at their peak. Kevin Keegan did. Like Trent, he went to Europe for a new challenge. Kenny Dalglish came in to Liverpool and the good times continued to roll. He promptly scored the winner in the European Cup final.

Adios, Trent. Hello, Conor Bradley. No player is bigger than the club. And it's not like Trent is leaving Liverpool in the lurch. They have a brilliant new manager, have just won the title, have a superb recruitment operation and will doubtless strengthen in the summer. Trent leaves with a clear conscience and a crammed medal cabinet. Premier League twice, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup. Yes, he goes without Liverpool recouping a fee, and that's an undeniable frustration. He's run down his contract. But he never cost them a fee. Yes, he received expert coaching in the academy and has been well-paid as a first-teamer. And he's paid them back with 23 goals and 86 assists in 352 games. His legacy at Liverpool should be lauded.

Trent shouldn't be made to feel he now walks alone. Liverpool are bigger than that.

Luke Reddy
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

A drive through Liverpool right now offers the chance to see countless flags draped from windows and guttering as fans colour their houses in celebration of a 20th league title.

One on Queens Drive - two minutes along the busy road where Trent Alexander-Arnold lived as a child - explains such success is "part of our DNA". Around the corner, on Marlborough Road in Tuebrook, one fan has managed to hang a flag from a telephone cable, meaning cars pass under it all day long. There is a tangible pride in the air.

Alexander-Arnold has felt this before. He has quite literally stood atop a parade bus and been able to see his childhood home. On Monday, 26 May, he will do so again. The young man has indeed come a long way in the most localised manner.

A European Cup, two Premier League titles and 86 assists have come the way of a player who dreamed of such outcomes when he joined the Reds, aged six.

It must be borderline scary to have achieved so much of what you wished for by the age of 26. What roads are left to conquer? Does the view from the roof of the bus get old? Do you grow a little more numb to the dusting of red smoke?

For a fan, it is almost impossible to grasp why change might be longed for, yet in Alexander-Arnold's world, it is. "I need a new change," he has explained.

There is a world - and one in which it is not too hard to imagine - where Alexander-Arnold's name graced The Anfield Road end. Had a lifetime of service ensued along with maybe a few more trophies, there would have been a strong case - one day - for such an outcome. That, in many ways, is lasting legacy - one's name on a stand or below a statue.

Rightly or wrongly, that now appears far less likely to ever happen. Alexander-Arnold might instead become a Galactico. We can name countless Galacticos. From a legacy perspective, one wonders if the next leg of his journey will ultimately provide the unique, one-club outcome that could have been.

So is it worth it? His weighing of what are personal factors implies so.

Ultimately, some decisions do not come down to legacy but hinge on what an individual places the deepest value upon. For some it is a name on a stand, for others it is personal accolades, for many, it is trophies. It is almost certain Alexander-Arnold will add countless of the latter to his cabinets from here on in, such is his talent and the status of the club he looks set to join.

Of course, there are other key factors and motivations. There's a chance to conquer a language, a new culture, and to grow one's brand in foreign lands. Few of even the most diehard Liverpool fans - the type who scale telephone poles to hang flags - could begrudge the cocktail of plus points and experiences Alexander-Arnold is set to live out and enjoy.

He is ultimately happy with his legacy in his home city and comfortable with the fact it may never deliver a name on a stand. There will instead always be the trophies earned in red to look back on.

In the future, when the dust on a controversial departure settles, one would expect even fans frustrated by his exit to offer nods of respect at one of Liverpool's sons.

The kid from Queens Drive has new roads to conquer. Fans must now conquer their confusion as to why one of their own will no longer be part of their DNA.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving Liverpool at the end of his contract.

Here are some of your comments:

Ryan: I'm obviously gutted that Trent has decided to leave. He's been omnipresent for many seasons now, helping us lift many trophies, but no single player is bigger than the club. Who's to say that someone new might come in a be a breath of fresh air? I wish him luck. I just wish we'd have been able to monetise his departure.

Nick: When you give 20 years of your life in service to a football club, and win every trophy possible in the process, while still honouring your contract, I think you earn the right to try something new. He doesn't owe Liverpool anything as he gave the club everything.

Ian: There is no denying he is a talented footballer, good going forward, taking free-kicks and corners and he is an excellent passer of the ball. But his defending has been questioned in recent years and he has proved to be a weak link on several occasions. If he wants to leave, then good luck to him. I'm sure Liverpool will have their sights on an excellent replacement.

Stephen: Wishing Trent all the very best for the future. He has been a great servant for the Reds, has won everything for us, and deserves the opportunity to pitch his talents elsewhere. Fellow Reds fans will not like it, leaving on a free etc, but the board only have themselves to blame for that. Thanks for everything Trent, you redefined the roll of the full-back, along with Andy Robertson.

Dan: Very happy for both him and Liverpool. He's been a loyal, long-serving player. Lots of people in jobs leave for a new challenge. Good luck to him. Equally, the right-back position has been the proverbial running sore under Jurgen Klopp, who singularly failed to address the fact that Trent can't defend well. Thankfully, Arne Slot has had the resolve to try different options and hopefully Conor Bradley will turn his potential into greatness. Something had to give. So overall, it's a win-win.

James: Can't blame him for wanting a new challenge. I wish him all the best unless he is playing against us. The sadness of losing one of our own is somewhat helped by the fact that although Trent is the far superior individual player with the ball at his feet. I do genuinely believe we are a better much more balanced team with Conor Bradley. Just look at the difference in yesterday's game when Bradley came on.

John: It's not the norm nowadays for a player to spend their entire career at one club. The fact he is a Liverpool boy makes it harder for the fans, and as a fan I'm disappointed. But from his point of view it is completely understandable. If you have a chance to play for another footballing giant, in another country, why not? Good luck to him.

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

It's the lure of a new challenge - the prestige of becoming a Galactico, that is understood to be the overriding motivation for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Indeed, while he will undoubtedly be well remunerated in the Spanish capital - with well-placed sources indicating that his basic wage in Madrid will be supplemented by a healthy commercial and image rights package - Liverpool were willing to make Alexander-Arnold one of the best paid defenders in Premier League history to sign a new contract at Anfield.

But you get the impression that money isn't the sole driver for Alexander-Arnold. He's won everything there is to win with Liverpool.

He is going out a winner, too; playing a key role in the club's 20th league title triumph. Winning at Real Madrid puts you on a different stratosphere, though.

The lure of Real, even for someone as emotionally attached to his surroundings as Alexander-Arnold is, is hard to resist.

Alexander-Arnold, upon his exit, will relinquish the vice-captaincy - a role Mohamed Salah is understood to be a prime candidate to fill ahead of next season.

Leaving home will carry an emotional burden, but a new challenge is on the horizon for Alexander-Arnold.

Madrid is calling.

Sens us your thoughts on Alexander-Arnold's exit

Image source, Getty Images

Trent Alexander-Arnold says he has "given everything I could to the club" after confirming he will leave at the end of his contract.

After joining at the age of six, the full-back has spent 20 years with the Reds, making 352 first-team appearances and scoring 23 goals.

He has lifted eight major honours, including the Champions League and most recently this season's Premier League title.

Speaking to the club website, he said: "I think first and foremost, I want to say it's not an easy decision and there's a lot of thought and feeling that has gone into it. I've been here 20 years now, loved every single minute of it, achieved all my dreams, achieved everything I've ever wanted to here.

"Giving everything day in, day out for 20 years, I've got to a point now where I feel like I need a new change, a new challenge for me as a player and as a person. And I think now is the right time for me to do that.

"There's a lot I would like to say. The main thing is a massive thank you. You guys have been there from the start with me, you guys have supported me, been there.

"I've felt the support, the love, everything that you guys have done has never been unnoticed by me. I've loved every single minute of it. I hope they have felt that has been reciprocated and that I've given everything I could to the club."

How do you feel about the news?

Disappointed? Happy that the saga has come to an end?

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Liverpool have confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold will leave the club at the end of the season.

The announcement brings an end to the season-long questions over his future with the 26-year-old's contract expiring in the summer.

On a post on their social media, external, Liverpool said: "Trent Alexander-Arnold has informed Liverpool FC of his intention to leave the club this summer upon the expiry of his current contract.

"Trent will depart with our gratitude and appreciation for his contribution during a sustained period of success."

Full story here

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on Chelsea's Premier League match against Liverpool.

Here are some of your comments:

Chelsea fans

Richard: Excellent from Chelsea. The chips were down but they came up with a performance. Enzo Fernandez is now more of an attacking threat from midfield, Romeo Lavia's return has added to the team and Cole Palmer is on song again. Very encouraging that our fate is in our own hands with key trips to Newcastle and Nottingham Forest yet to come. Hang on in there!

Jeremy: I've criticised Enzo Maresca multiple times, so it's only right I praise him for the way the team shaped up and played. We completely played the champions off the park, and it arguably could have been more. A massive win for our top-five dreams.

Sam: That's the Chelsea I know. The best performance of the season when we needed it the most. Another three more performances like that in the league and we can look forward to the Champions League.

Liverpool:

Karen: A poor showing from the champions. Folded like a cheap tent in a soft breeze. Chelsea had the intention of winning, gave Liverpool a rough ride and despite having the most possession failed to rise to the occasion. Poor performance, - very poor.

Alex: Honestly who cares, the league is won. Doesn't matter in the slightest what happens in the past few games! Play the second team, get some game time and experience under their belts while they can!

Ian: Proof that Harvey Elliot and Wataru Endo are not good enough and Curtis Jones also struggled. Missed the first team today. When they brought Alexis Mac Allister and and Dominik Szboszlai on, they started bossing the game. Feel sorry for the fans who travelled.

Mark Chapman presents highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Brentford 4-3 Manchester United

• Brighton 1-1 Newcastle United

• Chelsea 3-1 Liverpool

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Arne Slot spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Liverpool's defeat against Chelsea: "For many things I didn't see a drop off. Today, we could see why we have won this league - we brought the ball out from the back really well.

"We came back after being 2-0 down and we didn't give up, but I have said before margins are small.

"In some moments a few percentages were not there."

"They [Chelsea] were a constant threat on the counter-attack, but they have a very good team. Well organised and so many great individuals.

"It will always be a difficult game to play here, but for us to play the way we did tells me also why we won the league, but it also tells me if you have a small drop off in the final third you can concede or not score.

"A wise man once said to me 'nothing good comes from losing a football game' and that's how we experience it.

"Yes, we slipped twice with a goals conceded, but the amount of times we could play through Chelsea was much more than half a season ago.

"In the final third we were not as aggressive and we missed a few percent to score the goal."

Image source, Getty Images

Only John Terry (19) and Dion Dublin (14) have scored more headed goals from corners in Premier League history than Virgil Van Dijk (13). The Liverpool captain is the top scoring defender in the competition since his first full season with the Reds in 2018-19 (21).

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Chelsea's performance

What did you make of Liverpool's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies.

Intro referencing day, competition and number of matches.

• Brentford v Manchester United

• Brighton v Newcastle - BBC Radio 5 Live

• West Ham v Tottenham

• Chelsea v Liverpool (16:30) - BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

I would usually be asking which Chelsea side will turn up, but that applies to Liverpool too this week.

Arne Slot's side could have been out all week celebrating their title win and we don't know how that will affect them.

You often play at your best when you have been on the lash in a scenario like theirs. For example, some of my best games for Celtic came after nights out where we had won something and were allowed to have a couple of beers, but I don't know what to expect here.

Chelsea have nicked a couple of results recently, to stay in the race for the top five, but their performances have not been too convincing and their fans still don't seem to have taken to Enzo Maresca's playing style.

This is not the test for them that it would be if Liverpool were trying to close out the title but I don't think Slot is the type to let anyone take their foot off the gas. He will put out a strong team and even if they play with more freedom, I still think Liverpool will leave with the points.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Chelsea are winless in their past 10 meetings with Liverpool in all competitions (drawn seven, lost three). Only once before have they gone longer without a win over the Reds (11 from 1985 to 1990).

Mohamed Salah, 32, has 28 Premier League goals for Liverpool this season and needs one more goal to equal the record for goals by a player aged 30 or older in a campaign, held by Didier Drogba for Chelsea in the 2009-10 season (29).

Luke Reddy
BBC Sport senior journalist

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"We don't know whether it was a goal or not. I'm sure people will talk about it - but we're going to the final. We're going to Istanbul."

Those were the words of captain Steven Gerrard 20 years ago today after Luis Garcia's 'ghost goal' carried Liverpool through the Champions League semi-final, beating Premier League winners Chelsea by a single goal over two legs.

Gerrard was right, people did talk. In the weeks that followed, a myth swept the Merseyside city and it went something like this...

A former Liverpool secretary - an elderly lady now retired - was said to have been sitting directly in line with the goalline. Asked about the moment that carried a generation of Liverpool fans to their first European Cup final, she is said to have answered with a resounding 'yes, it did cross the line'.

Case closed, then. If anyone is going to end doubt, surely it is a gran-like figure, one you would trust with your savings, house keys and matchday ticket?

Or maybe it is just a football myth, one swept from the dust of one of the greatest nights in Anfield history.

It is somehow romantic that a night so vivid in colour and packed with narrative contains such a plot twist.

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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho spoke pre-game about how his league winners would stand up to the swirl of an Anfield semi-final.

But this semi-final was different.

A generation of supporters who knew what European Cup finals looked like only through VHS video replays could sniff the chance to live one out in its true form.

By lunchtime, Liverpool city centre cut the look of a place where a day's work had been finished early, with bars filling and fans preparing for the night to come.

As 6pm rolled in, flags, banners, songs and expectation filled the streets around Anfield. By shortly before 8pm, Anfield was as alive as it has ever been. It was ferocious.

By 8.04pm, the ferocity paid its first - and most telling - dividend, a 'ghost goal' to send Liverpool to an Istanbul final which they should have lost in every lifetime bar the one we live in.

• Not a Liverpool fan? Find your club's page here

Anfield was not going to be denied.

There was intimidation - each and every time a Chelsea player collected a ball for a throw-in, he did so faced with a cluster of charged home fans doing everything bar sitting on their hands.

There was hope - why should the images of European Cup success live only in the heads of parents and grandparents when just one win sat between a modern-day re-run?

And there was passion - song after song, roar after roar, every 50-50 duel on the pitch treated like a cup final of its own by those in the stands.

There can be little wonder it was decided the ball had crossed the line.

For decades, players - in both red and opposing colours - have talked about the ball being 'sucked' towards goal at The Kop end. It was on this night in telling fashion, prompting an extraordinary outburst of celebration initially, which would then give way to over 90 minutes of nerves and anxiety.

There were tears. Mourinho stood with his arms around his distraught players after the final whistle, while Anfield took on the look of a red-and-white hurricane. Those wearing blue had lost and were lost within it all. A tidal wave of home emotion and a ghost all in one night - it is indeed a lot to deal with.

Garcia's prod, a three-goal fightback in the final and a shootout win. It is like it was all meant to be.

Had VAR existed, such history may never have been written.

But who needs VAR when a mythical lady could see what no-one else could anyway?

Image source, Getty Images

Jordan Chamberlain
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Twenty years since the ghost goal? Twenty years since referee Lubos Michel did Chelsea a massive favour, more like.

If he hadn't given the goal to Luis Garcia, and, in fairness, I have no idea if it crossed the line or not, then he'd have had to send off Petr Cech and award Liverpool a penalty, given the goalkeeper was also the last man and didn't play the ball.

So after five minutes, Liverpool would have got a penalty which Steven Gerrard would surely have scored against Carlo Cudicini [who'd have had to come on for Cech] - and Chelsea would have been down to 10 men for the rest of the game.

In 2005, there was no double jeopardy rule, so a penalty and a red card would have both been awarded.

If anything, Lubos Michel enhanced Chelsea's chances of winning by awarding that goal, although Jose Mourinho and their supporters conveniently forget this. You can't talk about whether it crossed the line or not without discussing the imminent red card and penalty had it not been given.

The atmosphere at Anfield that night was the best the ground has experienced in my entire lifetime. Fervent, manic, brilliant. It was back when fans still wore red unashamedly and touts hadn't sold on many tickets to high-bidding first-time supporters. Anfield will likely never again be so noisy given the change in modern football and the increased hospitality and ticket pricing. This is sad.

The biggest moment of the game, bar the goal, was Eidur Gudjohnsen's miss with the final kick. Somehow, the excellent finisher skewed wide when hitting the target was easier and Liverpool were on the way to Istanbul.

Many consider that Liverpool side a one-man team, but besides Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia formed one of the best central defensive partnerships in Europe at the time. This bedrock was what got Liverpool to the final, but I still don't know how we beat AC Milan from 3-0 down.

Find more from Jordan Chamberlain at Empire of the Kop, external

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Liverpool's 'ghost goal' against Chelsea in the Champions League 20 years ago "sparked the rivalry between the two clubs", says former Blues defender Robert Huth.

It was a memorable moment - for better or for worse - for both sets of fans and two-decades on it is still argued if Luis Garcia's goal, that sent the Reds through to the final at Chelsea's expense, crossed the line.

It proved to be a key moment on the way to Liverpool's comeback win over AC Milan in Istanbul.

Part of the squad for that game, Huth explained to BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club how Blues boss Jose Mourinho reacted to that moment, stating: "He was fuming, off course he would be.

"When the goal went in, nobody really knew what was going on because it wasn't obvious to anyone. It didn't even look that close particularly.

"The lads were deflated, he was fuming, but what can you do? The game is done."

Mourinho created a number of rivalries during his time at Chelsea, but the one between him and Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez came to be particularly fierce.

Asked whether it was that game that kick-started it, Huth said: "They both gave as good as they got. They both had a lot to say for each other. But, that game definitely sparked the rivalry between the two clubs.

"This time Liverpool got the better of us, but then we beat them in the next quarter-final a year or two later.

"It is water under the bridge now but it was frustrating. I think The Kop shouted the ball in rather than the ball actually crossing the line."

Ian Dennis
Commentator/Senior Football Reporter at BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

I have to say, Anfield was very, very special.

The last time they won the title in front of supporters was 12,783 days ago.

The atmosphere was very, very special. Being at Anfield was probably up there with other memorable games, such as Dortmund in 2016 and Barcelona in 2019.

I felt privileged to be there with all of the supporters.

I deliberately didn't talk over You'll Never Walk Alone before the game. I said to the engineer: "We're not going to talk here - we'll let the atmosphere speak for itself."

There are certain occasions when the magnitude of the game speaks for itself and you make that decision.

Listen to more from Ian on The Commentators' View podcast on BBC Sounds

Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Reuters

Liverpool's title win has come with four games to spare and, along with the club's celebrations, Reds boss Arne Slot believes it will give him plenty of benefits on the playing front, and also when it comes to transfers.

Speaking to the media before Sunday's game at Chelsea, Slot said he plans to rotate his squad and give chances to some fringe players, with Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace to come after the trip to Stamford Bridge.

"This is a moment to see where they are, also looking towards next season maybe a bit already," said the Dutchman. "But, definitely also because they deserve to play this season."

Attacking midfielder Harvey Elliott and winger Federico Chiesa are two of the players who will be hoping to more playing time.

Slot added: "I don't think these players have to prove the quality players they are, but I think they want to prove for themselves that they are good enough to play for us.

"I already know that they are and, probably, they themselves know this as well. I don't think they have a point to prove, but I do think they would like to play."

Slot did not provide any update on the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who can leave on a free when his contract runs out in the summer, but the Reds boss did speak about how the club's title win and celebrations will help on the transfer front.

"The main advantage of winning the league is that, until now if I spoke to new players that we wanted to bring in, I always told them that our fans are really special, that it's special to play at this club," he said.

"That was maybe not even necessary to tell them in the past but, after Sunday, I don't think I ever have to tell anyone again how special our fans are because that was unbelievable.

"Winning the league and having these fans is a big attraction to every player we want to bring in. It is definitely helpful."