Klopp: Alexander-Arnold doesn't need to 'prove anything' to Southgate

Jurgen Klopp believes Trent Alexander-Arnold has done enough in his young career to show what he can offer the England national team.

The Liverpool right-back, who already has 12 caps for his country, arrowed in an excellent 91st-minute winner in Saturday's 2-1 win over Aston Villa. However, the 22-year-old's performances have been questioned this term, and he recently lost his place in Gareth Southgate's Three Lions squad.

Southgate was in attendance for Liverpool's first victory at Anfield since December.

"I don't think he has to prove anything, to be honest," Klopp told the BBC, as quoted by ESPN.

"You can play the best season of your life and the coach of the national team has to make decisions, and we respect that.

"The only thing Trent is doing is playing his best football. In the last 10 days, twice he's played outstanding, and now he scores a goal. The most important thing is we stop talking about it."

Before the weekend's triumph over Aston Villa, Alexander-Arnold played the full 90 minutes of both a 3-0 away win at Arsenal in the Premier League and a 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals. Despite Klopp's praise for Alexander-Arnold's showings over the past 10 days, the full-back's defending was roundly criticized in the Real Madrid setback.

Veteran midfielder James Milner was also complimentary about Alexander-Arnold's performance in the Villa match.

"It says a lot about his character," Milner said. "People forget how young he is. He's been very fortunate in his career so far, so being left out of the England squad is probably one of his first disappointments."