Trent Alexander-Arnold serenades Anfield with performance of artistry and class | OneFootball

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future is likelier to involve Real Madrid than Accrington Stanley. The Bernabeu may prove to be his new home but he might forever remain a stranger to the Wham Stadium in Lancashire. Accrington could not quite emulate Carlo Ancelotti’s team, losing 4-0 at Anfield, where the Champions League holders went down 2-0, but they got a glimpse of the class that prompted Real to make an approach for Alexander-Arnold last month.

A shot from 20 yards was whipped, bent, measured and caressed, designed to nestle in the top corner of the net. “I could talk for hours about that,” said Arne Slot, “Unbelievable.” And perhaps cruel for Accrington’s manager, John Doolan, who coached Alexander-Arnold when he was six or seven and was surprised when the right-back remembered and approached him after the final whistle. “He is such a such a wonderful and humble guy,” he said. “To do that shows the class he has.”

Accrington, it is safe to say, did not have to face such quality when their FA Cup run began against Rushall Olympic. Predictably, it ended at Anfield. If the team from the depths of League Two were surprised to see Alexander-Arnold’s name on a teamsheet designed to avert a shock, they can at least testify to the artistry of the right-back who wants to win the Ballon d’Or.

Last week illustrated what he sometimes can’t do, even if his defensive deficiencies can be exaggerated and his good days be overshadowed by the bad. This was a demonstration of what he can do: strike a ball better than almost anyone else currently playing.

“The biggest compliment Trent could get was the reaction after the Manchester United game,” added Slot. “Every player around the world except for a few have bad games and that is completely normal but the moment Trent has one everyone has an opinion about him. Maybe that is because of the contract situation. Many of the analysts were quite hard on him and that is the biggest compliment you can get.”

If the Liverpool supporters’ reaction was more mixed six days earlier, they celebrated him now. He was serenaded as “the Scouser in the team” when substituted. He had scored his 21st Liverpool goal; include his assists and he has been directly involved in 105. Which, for a right-back in the middle of his career, is remarkable.

Perhaps this scoreline was not, even if, Doolan said, “a 4-0 doesn’t feel like a 4-0”. But there were tales to be told in the three other scorers. Diogo Jota struck as a starter for the first time since October. Jayden Danns found the net four minutes after coming on to offer further evidence he can be an impact substitute. And Federico Chiesa opened his Liverpool account, becoming the first signing of Arne Slot’s reign to score for the club.

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Diogo Jota finished off a slick counter-attack to send Liverpool into the lead (REUTERS)

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Trent Alexander-Arnold’s strike was too good for Billy Crellin and gave the Liverpool captain some much-needed confidence (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

With Liverpool already assured of a place in the fourth round, it became a personal quest, ended in the 90th minute when the Italian drove in a shot from 25 yards. It had felt increasingly urgent: he had been denied by Billy Crellin, then had the shot that led to Danns’s goal, then hit the post. Yet after the misfortune of his injury-hit start to life at Liverpool, after he was denied just a second start for the club by the illness that meant he missed two days of training. Dogged by his misfortune, the £10m recruit’s relief at scoring was understandable.

Another had reason to savour the occasion. Because Chiesa was held back, the 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha became Liverpool’s youngest ever starter, a rangy runner showing the confidence to dribble at defenders. It was Accrington, though, who began the better, looking to bridge a gulf of 86 league places, with the profligacy of the £85m striker Darwin Nunez preserving parity.

Until a devastating counterattack as Accrington were punished for the ambition displayed in committing men forward. “They went from one box to another in a flash,” added Doolan; with two passes, from Dominik Szoboszlai to Alexander-Arnold to Nunez. He then selected the right option – not a given, considering his decision-making – by centring for Jota’s tap-in.

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Jayden Danns came off the bench to add a third goal (REUTERS)

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Federico Chiesa scored his first ever goal for Liverpool in stoppage time (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

Liverpool’s only previous scorer against Accrington was the great Billy Liddell, in a 1956 FA Cup tie. There were to be three more, starting with Alexander-Arnold on the stroke of half-time. Danns was a catalyst after his introduction; he has now played 45 minutes in the FA Cup in his career and scored three times. He started and finished a move, injecting pace, finding Chiesa and following up to finish after the Italian’s shot was blocked by Crellin. The Euro 2020 winner duly made it four. “Definitely a good first step,” said Slot, although he qualified his praise. “But as much as I liked the way Accrington Stanley played, we have to take into consideration that we’re talking about League Two level.”

It was, Slot had said, Accrington’s Champions League final. Liverpool had allowed Accrington to escape the Lancashire snow and train at their indoor facility in Kirkby on Friday. A day at Anfield has given their team, Doolan said, “brilliant memories for the rest of their lives”. Their bank balance has been boosted to the tune of around half a million pounds. They brought 4700 fans, around double their normal home gate. Some of the Liverpool fans were found in the visiting team. Accrington almost scored a goal with Josh Woods clipping Caoimhin Kelleher’s bar with a rising shot before the unmarked former Manchester United defender Donald Love headed just over.

“A bit more quality going forward or lady luck, we just didn’t have it,” lamented Doolan, “Arne is the Liverpool manager and I am an Everton fan but I can’t speak highly enough of the man. He invited us in for a drink and I am going to take him up on it.”