"We're nowhere near 100% yet" - Trent Alexander-Arnold sends warning to Manchester City
Trent Alexander-Arnold has warned Manchester City that Liverpool have not hit top form so far this season.
Jurgen Klopp's side will restore their 11-point advantage over the reigning Premier League champions if they beat Everton on Wednesday.
That would put the Reds in a commanding position in the title race, even though Leicester will remain within eight points of the league leaders if they overcome Watford at the King Power Stadium.
And Alexander-Arnold has told City that Liverpool can perform even better than they have done already this term.
"We are nowhere near 100%," the England international told the Daily Mail. "I am not sure we have had a game yet where we have been happy with our performance.
"The City game was excellent [a 3-1 win] but even then we were disappointed that we conceded. It's hard to accept but for us it's about winning."
Liverpool also led the way in December last year, and at one stage were seven points clear of Pep Guardiola's side.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
It was City who ultimately finished on top of the pile, though, and Alexander-Arnold admits he is still pained by last season's near-miss.
"We got all the fans' hopes up and played outstanding football but ultimately we did not get there, we disappointed them," he added.
"It does not matter how it happened or how we lost it. We could have lost the last five games or won them all, as we did, and it would not really have changed anything. It was still the same disappointment. We wanted to win it so much and the fans wanted us to win it so much but we could not do it.
"Last season City won the last 14 or 15 games on the bounce and they can do it again, can't they? It is hard to get too excited right now."
READ MORE
Lionel Messi wins the 2019 Ballon d'Or: How we've followed the best player of the last 25 years
How can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer become more than just a post-Mourinho manager?
Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).