Trent Alexander-Arnold reveals half-time change that helped Liverpool beat Arsenal

Trent Alexander-Arnold believes Liverpool were able to beat Arsenal in Sunday's FA Cup third-round tie after mixing up their frontline in the second half.

The Reds progressed to round four with a 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium, scoring twice late on to book their spot in Monday's draw.

Arsenal started brightly on home soil but spurned several opportunities to break the deadlock in a one-sided first half and ended up being punished for their lack of cutting edge. Jakub Kiwior diverted the ball into his own net when trying to clear a wicked free-kick from Alexander-Arnold before Luis Diaz iced the game in stoppage time.

Diaz started on the left but was moved over to the right after half-time, with Harvey Elliott dropping into midfield. Cody Gakpo moved into the number nine role before being replaced by Diogo Jota, while Darwin Nunez ended the match on the left after starting centrally.

Speaking to the BBC post-match, Alexander-Arnold explained how Liverpool rotated their attacking cast to get more of a foothold in a game that was threatening to slip away from them.

"I think there were times in the first half where we were a little bit naive, where we've got caught playing out from the back and they've had their chances from our mistakes and maybe a sloppy pass here and there," he said.

"They're a high-pressing team and they're bound to do that. We stuck with the way that we wanted to play, we have an identity, we want to play football and use players' strengths with the frontline that we had, obviously Harvey, [we] wanted to get him on the ball. 

"Then we've got Darwin and Lucho as well with speed, so we're playing the balls in behind and giving them what they wanted as well. We mixed it up, Darwin went a little bit wider and Cody went in the centre - I think that really made a difference. 

"We were able to use Darwin's speed one-on-one with their full-back and he created a lot for us in the second half."

In his post-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp admitted he had told his players this was always going to be a difficult game to withstand pressure.

"I said to the boys in the meeting before the game: humans are like that. It’s a tough game, nobody comes to Arsenal and wins just like this [clicks fingers]," he said.

"So in this game there will be difficult moments [and] if we start in these moments - which humans very often do - [looking] for excuses and then we realise who else is not here, it's normal that we have these problems, then we are screwed."

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