LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - Liverpool boss Arne Slot defended Trent Alexander-Arnold who drew scathing criticism from pundits after their 2-2 draw with mid-table Manchester United on Sunday, a result that felt like "two points lost" for the Premier League leaders.
United's Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot left the Liverpool defender -- who has been linked this week with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid -- chasing shadows for much of the game, and former United captain Roy Keane pulled no punches.
"We talk about how brilliant Trent is going forward, but Trent's defending today, my goodness it's like schoolboy stuff," Keane said on the Sky Sports broadcast.
"There's talk about him going to Real Madrid, the way he's defending he's going to Tranmere Rovers after this. He's got to do better."
Asked if Alexander-Arnold was distracted by the chatter about his contract, which is set to expire at the season's end, Slot said: "I don't believe in those things.
"I think nine out of 10 people will tell you that it affected him, but I'm one of the 10 that tells you that I don't think that affected him. What affected him is that he had to play Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, two starters for Portugal, great, great, great players," Slot said.
"We have a fantastic player here with Diogo Jota, and he's not even playing for Portugal. So that tells you how much quality United has. Probably everybody's going to tell you that it had to do with the rumours. But my opinion is different."
League Two's Tranmere Rovers responded to Keane's comments with a tongue-in-cheek post on social media platform X, writing: "Trent to Tranmere, Roy? Nah, we're alright thanks."
Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah scored for the Reds, who remained top of the table with 46 points, six ahead of second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand.
Slot said the draw felt like their 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in mid-September, their only defeat this season.
"Of course, it feels for us as two points dropped," the Dutchman said. "It was a difficult game, bit similar to maybe the Nottingham Forest game, where playing style of both teams were quite similar. Defending in the low block with a lot of bodies, and if they had the ball, not to risk to build up, but play it long.
"That is not always easy to play against that style of football, and that's what showed against Forest, and it showed again today as well."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis)
