Entering the field on the hour mark, Trent Alexander-Arnold had a point to prove. After his weekend showing against Manchester United, the Liverpool ace needed to show something.

Amid a backdrop of the Liverpool away end singing his name — loudly and proudly, The Scouser in the Team — the Reds’ No. 66 produced something much more akin to his true self. Alexander-Arnold could easily have scored what would have been the opener and played with much more intent.

It wasn’t a perfect performance (and, of course, Liverpool didn’t win). But what Alexander-Arnold showed — exactly as he needed to — was a level of fight so clearly lacking last Sunday.

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Understudy Conor Bradley was chosen ahead of him for this one — because he needed minutes and Alexander-Arnold needed a rest, Arne Slot explained beforehand. While Bradley looked rusty, the first choice option came on and looked sharp.

Alexander-Arnold had a shot cleared off the line and played a few good crosses into the box. No player played more passes into the final third than him and he only played a third of the minutes. While the stats can’t quantify everything, Alexander-Arnold just looked like someone with the bit between his teeth.

Where he was lacking energy and intensity against Manchester United, Alexander-Arnold showed a grit and determination to show what he was made of here. He was beaten a couple of times — that can happen — but he sprinted back to get back on the right side. It sounds simple enough, but it wasn’t last Sunday.

Wherever his long-term future lies, Alexander-Arnold will be staying until the end of the season. And leaving without more medals — chiefly the Premier League and the Champions League — would be a major disappointment.

On this evidence, as many should have suspected regardless of what happened a few days prior, he remains a man on a mission. Alexander-Arnold will hope for bigger prizes than the Carabao Cup but he looked like a player desperate for another trip to Wembley here, which he might still get.

That is not to say that his future is already decided, of course. It is possible that Alexander-Arnold could agree new terms at Anfield and remain put at Liverpool. Right now, though, what matters is that the conversation has shifted.

Perform like this every week — and for 90 minutes instead of 30 — and the doubts about his focus will dissipate as quickly as they appeared. That’s the next challenge for Alexander-Arnold; the first was simply getting himself back into an acceptable groove.