Trent Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool Look Forward to “Hostile” Goodison Park

Liverpool are set to face Everton for the first time in this season in a mid-week match under the lights at Goodison Park, and that means a hostile environment—a hostile environment that locally born Trent Alexander-Arnold is looking forward to.

“I personally like it, just knowing you’re going into a hostile place,” said the Liverpool fullback. “Everyone wants to see you fail. It probably gives you that little bit more motivation, [like] you’ve got something to prove, which I’ve always felt.

I like to perform in [those] atmospheres. We know that it’s going to be a loud one, a hostile one, for us going there but for us it’s 90 minutes of football. That’s what we do, that’s what we get paid to do, is to play 90 minutes and try to win the game. “

The environment away across Stanley Park at Goodison will be loud and unfriendly to the visitors, but there may also be some fragility underneath it that the Reds can exploit if they come out strong and can go up a goal against their local rivals.

That’s because after a strong run to start the season that saw the Blues win four of their first six games, their recent form has seen them lose five of their last six and has new manager—and former Liverpool manager—Rafa Benitez on shaky ground.

If Everton are playing well or Liverpool poorly, the crowd will be a complicating factor for Alexander-Arnold and the Reds. Play well and score early, though, and that hostile crowd could end up turning their anger on the home team.

“They’ll be looking to bounce back,” Alexander-Arnold added. “They suffered a defeat that they probably won’t be too happy with on the weekend, so they will probably have a little bit more motivation to bounce back in front of the home fans.

“But that’s football, every team has them little bits of motivation. Every team wants to beat us. But I’m also sure they will be worried about what we can do. I’m sure they will be watching our analysis with a little bit of fear in them.”