Trent Alexander-Arnold hails Mohamed Salah as the 'best in the world'

Trent Alexander-Arnold has called Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah the 'best player in the world' after the forward netted again during his side's 3-1 victory over Newcastle United on Thursday.

The Reds actually went behind against the relegation-threatened Magpies, with Jonjo Shelvey coming back to haunt his former club with a great strike, but they would go on to secure all three points easily.

After Diogo Jota had levelled things up, Salah reacted quickest to fire home the rebound from Sadio Mane's effort, making it 2-1 in the process.

The 29-year-old performed tremendously throughout the contest, continuing his fine start to the season. Thursday's strike was Salah's 24th goal involvement so far, with only Alan Shearer registering more (25) in a single Premier League campaign before Christmas previously.

Speaking at full time, Alexander-Arnold was quick to praise his free-scoring, fellow Red.

"It's mad. He's the best player in the world right now, it goes without saying. He's scoring, he's creating, doing everything game in, game out," he said.

"He's had an incredible season and that's on his mind - he wants to break every record in the book. He wants to put his name in the history books, he's doing that. He's done that from the first season he's come in and he hasn't taken his foot off the pedal."

Alexander-Arnold netted himself during the Newcastle win - an arrowing strike from 25 yards into the top corner.

Unsurprisingly, it was a moment he enjoyed a great deal.

"I've been waiting for that for five years now!" he said. "Waiting to hit it clean like that. I've had a few ones from the edge of the box and I've dragged them.

"I've caught that one sweet and its nestled in the top corner. Obviously it put the game to bed."

Before the match, Liverpool were hit with the news that Virgil van Dijk, Curtis Jones and Fabinho had tested positive for Covid-19. It was the latest in a spate of coronavirus cases that have led to a number of games being postponed.

"We're focussing on our football," Alexander-Arnold said when asked about the outbreak.

"Until we're told otherwise we'll be in there every day. We're in recovery tomorrow. Make sure we're fit for Sunday. We've got a big game, going down to Tottenham."

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