Pundit Steve Nicol has suggested that Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku could be a terrifying prospect for Trent Alexander-Arnold to defend against this weekend.
With the latest international break now over, the Citizens are back in Premier League action with a home clash against Liverpool on Saturday.
Looking ahead to this showdown, one pundit has highlighted one individual battle that could be a big problem for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Nicol says Doku could terrify Alexander-Arnold
Speaking in a recent podcast from ESPN FC, Nicol had this to say about the prospect of Doku facing off against Alexander-Arnold.
He said: “I think we know what City are going to do, but what I don’t know is what Liverpool’s backline is going to do. I can’t get away from that.
“But there’s one in particular that scares the life out of me, if he plays Doku against Trent Alexander-Arnold, that is it.
“If there’s anything to come out of the Chelsea game, I thought Doku was poor. I think everyone was expecting because of the previous week, this guy is going to light it up again and I thought he was pretty average, so maybe that goes into Pep’s mind.
“At the same time, if I’m Pep, I look at Trent and I look at Doku and this is a complete mismatch defensively so that’s what I’m worried about.”
City signed Doku during the previous summer transfer window from Rennes in a deal worth £55m.
Since then, the winger has scored three goals and provided six assists in 14 appearances across all competitions.
Taking into account how the Belgian has the joint-highest total of successful take-ons (31) in the Premier League this season alongside Matheus Cunha and Eberechi Eze, it’s easy to see why Nicol thinks Alexander-Arnold could have a tough time if he has to defend against Doku tomorrow.
Also, the fact that the Liverpool right-back has only been able to tackle 34.8% of the dribblers he has come up against, further highlights how much joy Doku could have against Alexander-Arnold this weekend.
