Trent Alexander-Arnold is the talk of Liverpool - but not for the right reasons. An expiring contract, Real Madrid lurking and now a howler of a performance against Manchester United has resulted in a simmering situation reaching boiling point.

The Reds are still top of the Premier League after Sunday's 2-2 home draw with their fierce rivals, but when the opportunity was left untaken to extend the points gap disappointment is only natural. What must not be allowed is the continuation of such performances and results into below par form.

And that message goes out to Alexander-Arnold in particular, who was under the spotlight on Sunday given off-field revelations of late. His performance brought the watching media and fans to unleash a wave of scrutiny in his direction.

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Contract and Real Madrid latest

Throughout the season Alexander-Arnold has had ties - particularly from Spanish media - to joining Real Madrid when his contract expires in the summer. He announced from the get-go that nothing would play out in the public eye.

Late on New Years' Eve - a day before the player became eligible to enter pre-agreement contract negotiations with foreign teams - the ECHO and other outlets reported the Spanish side had made an approach hoping to do business during the January transfer window.

Liverpool rejected this immediately, leaving the matter to spill into the new year.

A report on Saturday, January 4 from The Mirror stated that a new offer for Alexander-Arnold to remain with his boyhood club had been presented, offering £78m (£300k per week) over the next five years.

Man United performance

The Reds then hosted rivals Manchester United at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday, January 5.

Perhaps there was added expectation for a positive home result given Liverpool's place atop the table by a distance, Man United's placement in the bottom half and their prior poor record of four losses on the bounce. Home routs of 7-0 and 4-0 in recent seasons also did no favours.

But on a cold, wet and windy Merseyside winter evening, the conditions were primed for an upset. Simply, the home side failed to turn up for the most part and Man United were understandably left with wanting more from the game - even if it was Liverpool who had led from the 70th to the 80th minute.

Standing out like a sore thumb amongst the other poor performers on Sunday was Alexander-Arnold. Whenever there was an attacking opportunity for the visitors, it seemed to develop from the full-back's side of the pitch.

He either struggled to cope with his direct opponents or left Ibrahima Konate - freshly back from injury after six weeks - with too much to handle alone. 53.8 percent of Man United attacks came down his flank, and it was where both visiting goals were created.

Head coach Arne Slot responded to his vice-captain's difficult afternoon, sympathising: "What affected him is that he had to play Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot which are two starters for Portugal.

"Great, great, great players. We have a fantastic player here in Diogo Jota, and he’s not even playing for Portugal - mostly he’s not playing - so that tells you how much quality United has.

"And if these players set themselves to a game, and that is what United do once in a while, then it’s very difficult to play against them."

Yet, the numbers do not lie. The 26-year-old was removed from the action in the 86th minute having moments before been yellow-carded with no tackles completed, no ground duels won and he was also dribbled past twice.

His replacement, Conor Bradley - also returning from a six-week injury, played 11 minutes and made one tackle with three completed ground duels.

Subsequent criticism

Man United legend Roy Keane was the first to tear into Alexander-Arnold, at half-time, suggesting he would sooner earn a move to League Two Tranmere Rovers over reigning European champions Real Madrid. Mid-match Jamie Carragher also joked for the player's sake Madrid chiefs were not watching Sunday's display.

Accounts from the press box at Anfield suggested even supporters getting irate, with one shouting: "If you don't wanna be here Trent, f*** off."

In the aftermath, Carragher then clashed with co-pundit Gary Neville.

Ex-Man United captain Neville labelled the Madrid approach 'insulting' and believed that was enough to unnerve the full-back. Carragher bought none of it, going as far to insinuate it was Alexander-Arnold's own representatives that invited Bernabeu chiefs to make their approach this month.

But jumping to the defence of the full-back, Chris Sutton has responded: "Where has this pile-on for Trent [Alexander-Arnold] come from? Trent has been brilliant in a Liverpool jersey and all of a sudden, you want him out the door. Blimey."

For the most part there is truth in that statement - Alexander-Arnold has performed to a high standard along with his team-mates since Slot's arrival last summer.

However, he cannot escape criticism for that performance in a match of such importance. Directly after what has transpired off-field, it is extremely difficult not to link to two together.

Whether criticism was founded or not, Alexander-Arnold has been backed into a corner of needing to resolve his future for the good of the team, or at least break his rule and give a public answer after four months of silence.