Liverpool won't be looking at a routine 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley as anything other than a result that put it into the hat for the fourth-round draw. But Arne Slot was pleased, nonetheless, with the performance of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

As was the case when he came off the bench and played well against Spurs midweek in the Carabao Cup, the Liverpool fans inside the stadium sang Alexander-Arnold's name proudly. This time at Anfield, the reaction to him was loud and clear amid speculation surrounding a potential free transfer to Real Madrid.

"Trent didn't have his best game against Manchester United, but for the rest of the season he has been so good for us — I liked his performance today," Slot told ITV Sport post-match at Anfield.

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"Our fans have always given him a lot of support. He didn't play well once, but fans reacted to that. If Trent just plays what we expect from him, then he gets support."

It would be fair to say the reaction to his performance against Manchester United was not so positive. But that was in the context of a frustrating result which failed to extend Liverpool's lead in the Premier League title race.

"Might be true — but is that by a big margin? Not by a mile," Slot said ahead of the game when he was asked about teams attacking more down Alexander-Arnold's side than the left flank.

"It means we attack that side and they counter-attack, so if it is only 12 per cent difference, I look at how we concede our chances and our goals, they still have to go middle to the goal, so those in the middle have to defend as well.

"I see patterns in the goals we concede but it is not about Trent if that is what you mean? I know there is focus on him at the moment, but I highlight how well he did in the last half hour (against Spurs) and how our fans reacted, that is what pleased me even more."

Liverpool.com says: As long as Alexander-Arnold performs as he did against Spurs and Accrington, where he scored a superb goal for the Reds in the FA Cup tie, the fans will be behind him. There isn't much margin for error bur it would be a shock if he performed as badly as he did against Manchester United again any time soon.