Trent Alexander-Arnold responded to taunts from Tottenham's supporters by holding up six fingers in their direction in the moments after Lucas Bergvall's controversial winning goal.

Bergvall ran to the corner flag after scoring and was quickly joined by his teammates, and mobile phone footage captured Alexander-Arnold a few meters away, having a discussion with a Spurs ball-boy.

The discussion didn't appear to be a particularly friendly one, and supporters of the home team responded by jeering the England international.

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As Alexander-Arnold backed away in preparation for the restart, he held up six fingers in the direction of the fans who were goading him — one for each time Liverpool has won the European Cup in the club's history.

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Liverpool won the most recent of those European Cups by beating Tottenham in the Champions League final in 2019. Tottenham, meanwhile, has never won a European trophy.

Alexander-Arnold was named among the substitutes for Tottenham as Conor Bradley was handed his first start since November after a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

The 26-year-old emerged in the second half but could not prevent Liverpool from falling to a defeat — just the second that the Reds have suffered all season in all competitions.

The two-legged nature of the tie means that Liverpool remains in strong contention to qualify for the final, with the second leg versus Spurs at Anfield due to take place at the beginning of February.

Alexander-Arnold has won the Carabao Cup twice with Liverpool and the second leg against Spurs could be his final appearance in the competition if the Reds fail to overturn Spurs' one-goal lead.

Real Madrid has made the right-back one of its top targets ahead of the expiry of his Liverpool contract at the end of the season, and even made an approach to try and sign him during January last week, but that was met with a swift rejection from the Reds.