Trent Alexander-Arnold to play completely new position for England after midfield experiment

England boss Lee Carsley is set to ring the changes for Sunday evening’s match with Finland and it’s thought his plans involve shifting Trent Alexander-Arnold to left-back

Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to start at left-back in England’s crunch Nations League fixture with Finland.

The Three Lions are under pressure to bounce back after a humiliating loss against Greece earlier this week. The result has piled pressure on interim head coach Lee Carsley, whose own position is now unclear.

Alexander-Arnold, 25, has started all three of Carsley’s matches at the helm and impressed in his regular position after being utilised as a midfielder at Euro 2024. But it has now emerged that the Liverpool star is set to be shifted into yet ANOTHER position.

BBC Sport believe that Alexander-Arnold will be moved to left-back for Sunday evening’s match in a much-changed team. Captain Harry Kane, Jack Grealish and Marc Guehi are also primed to return to the starting XI in Helsinki.

Alexander-Arnold has been a standout performer in his preferred position for England in the aftermath of their devastating Euro 2024 final defeat; his appearance against Greece marked the first time in his career that he has started three consecutive games for his country.

The debate over where – and how – to utilise Alexander-Arnold has been a recurring one among England fans and pundits over recent years. The form and longevity of Kyle Walker has restricted Alexander-Arnold to a bit-part role for his country, with Southgate eventually opting to try and work out another way to get him into his team.

Carsley had previously indicated he saw Alexander-Arnold as a full-back, rather than a midfielder, after his predecessor, Gareth Southgate, deployed him in a central role.

Join the debate! Where do you think Alexander-Arnold should be playing for England? Let us know here.

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has previously expressed his bemusement over the fact that people want to shift Alexander-Arnold – who he rates as the “best right-back into the world” – into midfield.

Speaking back in 2021 after watching Alexander-Arnold play in central midfield against Andorra, Klopp mused: “In this game, in a game where England are that dominant for example, or that we are that dominant that Trent could play in midfield, I would rather he was the six than in this case the eight.

“That is possible but why would you make the best right-back in the world a midfielder? I don’t understand that really. As if the right-back position is not as important as the others. People who say that I struggle to understand how you could think that.”

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