Trent Alexander-Arnold: Why doesn't the Liverpool man play more for England?

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold won’t represent England during the current international break due to a hamstring injury sustained while training with his club.

Instead of being part of the Three Lions camp, Alexander-Arnold headed to Dubai to continue his rehabilitation, aiming to be fit to play his part in the Reds’ challenge for a quadruple of trophies.

Trent’s enforced absence for the matches against Switzerland and Ivory Coast marks the latest of several roadblocks in his young international career.

While the Liverpool man is a key member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad, having made over 200 appearances for the Merseyside club to date, the same can’t be said about his status in Gareth Southgate’s set-up with the national side.

Since making his debut against Costa Rica almost four years ago, Alexander-Arnold has made only 13 starts for England, together with a further three substitute appearances.

Granted injuries such as the thigh issue that ruled him out of Euro 2020 last summer haven’t helped those numbers, but there’s no denying that Southgate doesn’t see Trent as an indispensable member of his side by any means.

That the England boss actually dropped a fit Alexander-Arnold from his squad three months before Euro 2020 very much supports that line of thinking.

One thing that definitely counts against Trent is the healthy amount of competition at international level for the right-back spot.

The likes of Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier are part of a stacked roster of right-sided full-backs available to Southgate, leading some to question whether it is Alexander-Arnold’s pure defensive work that is limiting his opportunities at England level.

Data from smarterscout, obtained via The Athletic, suggests that