But when it came to the crunch, he had enough in his locker to drive home the 80th-minute equaliser that suggested Liverpool are definitely the real deal when it comes down to a title challenge. Jurgen Klopp’s team deserved their point – even if they got the benefit of a dubious second-half VAR decision that backed referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision to rule out Ruben Dias’ close-range strike for a foul by Manuel Akanji on flapping Reds’ keeper Alisson.
City were digging in to defend the lead given to them by Erling Haaland following another Alisson aberration in the first period. But Liverpool were struggling to turn their pressure into chances until Alexander-Arnold forgot about Doku to drift unnoticed into the home side’s penalty area.
He certainly had to show the kind of spirit that comes in handy when you are kicking a ball about on the streets of West Derby with the dream of making the grade at Anfield. Alexander-Arnold was given such a torrid time by Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku that he must have felt he was locked inside a washing machine on its spin cycle.
