Trent Alexander-Arnold's winner was fitting - but his Liverpool exit is still inevitable

After two contract renewals, how ironic that the third player in the saga stole the show.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has not committed himself to Anfield despite Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk putting pen to paper on new deals in the last ten days. But surely no-one can now question his commitment and love for this club after seeing him celebrate the goal which pushed Liverpool one step closer to the title.

Alexander-Arnold came off the bench, finally broke Leicester’s brave resistance and then raced to the away fans in the far corner as he ripped off his shirt in delight. Come on, there has been as much of a sense of inevitability about Alexander-Arnold’s departure as there has been about Leicester’s impending relegation.

Leicester’s fate was sealed by Alexander-Arnold’s winner and, even though Liverpool will have to wait a little longer to be crowned champions, it is only delaying the inevitable. Liverpool will be crowned champions if Arsenal lose at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday night but the more likely coronation date will be next Sunday when they host Tottenham.

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It would be far more fitting for Liverpool to win the Premier League in front of their own fans with a victory at Anfield, especially considering the last time they lifted the trophy in 2020 was in an empty stadium during Covid times. It was a bit flat at times and it did not feel there was too much to play for - until Alexander-Arnold rewrote the script on his 350th game for Liverpool. He also scored his first goal with his left foot.

And it was wonderful to see the travelling fans celebrating with one of their own in the home grown, local lad Trent. Salah and Van Dijk have given Liverpool a huge boost by signing on for two more years and those deals have provided a wonderful postscript in a remarkable season.

But if Alexander-Arnold is bound for Real Madrid on a free transfer then this was a wonderful way to say goodbye. Alexander-Arnold’s 76th-minute winner was their 25th shot of the game and yet through a mixture of wayward finishing, great goalkeeping by Leicester’s Mads Hermansen and heroic defending they could not find a way through.

Salah - without a goal from open play since mid-February - hit the post while Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch all went close. What a shame Leicester had not shown this much fight before. Incredibly, they have now gone 810 minutes in the Premier League since scoring a goal at home, a run which stretches back to December 8.

To be fair, it looked like they had scored a perfectly good goal when boyhood Liverpool fan Conor Coady had the ball in the net only for it to be disallowed by referee Stuart Attwell for Patson Daka’s challenge on keeper Alisson. It was ridiculously harsh. But then finally Liverpool got their break after Arne Slot made a raft of changes, including bringing on Alexander-Arnold.

Fans seem to be split on him, mainly because a few feel wronged that they could lose him this summer for nothing. However, all of that was quickly forgotten. Liverpool swung in another corner, Salah hit the post, Diogo Jota hit the bar and then Alexander-Arnold smashed in a left foot shot through the crowd of players.

Alexander-Arnold raced away in delight, twirling his shirt above his head and that iconic celebration deserves to go down as one of the moments in a brilliant season in which Liverpool have been head and shoulders above the rest. The sense of jeopardy has long since gone about Liverpool winning the title. It has become a case of when rather than if. And to win it in front of their own fans for the first time in 35 years is the sort of party they deserve.

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