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Trent Alexander-Arnold says Liverpool must give their all against Real Madrid after showing an “unacceptable” lack of fight in their Premier League defeat to Bournemouth.
Liverpool were unable to build on their famous 7-0 win over Manchester United last weekend, as Phillip Billing’s first-half strike earned Bournemouth a 1-0 home win on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah missed a penalty for the Reds, who managed just one shot on target in the second half as they chased a goal at Vitality Stadium.
It is the first time since the 2010-11 season Liverpool have lost consecutive league games against sides bottom of the table, having also lost to Nottingham Forest in October.
Alexander-Arnold, who was replaced with 25 minutes to play, accepts his side’s performance on England’s south coast was simply not good enough.
“This is the time of the season when everyone knows what they are fighting for and obviously Bournemouth are in a relegation battle, so they are fighting for survival,” he said.
“But every team in the league is fighting for something, so it means a lot to get the three points and I think looking back on it now, they probably wanted it more than us.
“That is something that is unacceptable and we need to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”
Liverpool have failed to win an away game against all three promoted clubs in a single Premier League campaign for only the third time, also doing so in 2010-11 and 2003-04.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are six points adrift of fourth-place Tottenham with a game in hand, with their next league game – away at Manchester City – not until April 1.
The Reds travel to Real Madrid on Wednesday in their final game before the international break, aiming to overturn a 5-2 deficit in their Champions League last-16 second leg.
“It’s a huge one for us,” Alexander-Arnold said of that showdown with the reigning Spanish and European champions. “It’s one that we need to go and do something special.
“All our focus is solely on that Real Madrid game now and it means that we can put everything into that game knowing that we’ve got days afterwards to recover.
“It’s about throwing the kitchen sink at it and going all out and I think that’s what we’re going to do – it’s important to do that. Then we’ll get ready for an important run-in.”
Liverpool have lost six of their past seven Champions League game against Madrid, having won their first three meetings with Los Blancos in the European Cup.
