Keep or Sell Trent Alexander Arnold in FPL GW21? (Best replacements)

Trent Alexander Arnold will be out for weeks for Liverpool and FPL managers face a dilemma: Keep or sell TAA in FPL before GW21? Who are his best replacements?

TAA Injury News and how long he will be out?

Full story: Trent Alexander-Arnold set to be sidelined for three weeks due to knee injury picked up v Arsenal on Sunday. #LFC https://t.co/FdP5gqZ1Gp

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) January 9, 2024

Keep or sell TAA in FPL?

• TAA’s situation is similar to Bowen’s (Read more: Keep or sell Bowen in FPL?)
• He is expected to be out for 3 weeks, so if he is really out for “only” three weeks, he could be back in GW22 (and miss just one gameweek)
• However, there will be 2 games in a very short period of time (GW22 on January 31st and GW23 on February 4th), so if TAA is not fit for GW22, he could also miss GW23 (as there are just 3 days between gameweeks).
• So we are likely looking at a 1 but potentially up to 3 gameweeks absence

Our verdict

• If you have many other issues in your team (Salah, Son, Kudus, Hwang..) and can cover TAA’s absence with a bench player, you could keep him for GW21 and hope he is back for GW22. It might not be worth it for -12 or something like that IF you have a player from your bench who you could play in GW21
• However, we are more inclined to sell him as a part of -4 or -8 point hit alongside selling Salah and Son and preparing funds for Haaland in GW22 (Read more: Our Haaland plan for GW21/22)

Best Trent Alexander Arnold replacements in FPL

So, let’s look at who are the best TAA possible replacements for Gameweek 21 in Fantasy Premier League.

1. Virgil Van Dijk – easy swap if you are looking for a direct replacement while keeping the exposure to Liverpool’s defense
2. Estupinan – he is back, he has good fixtures, a big attacking threat, and another goal in the Cup game before GW21, but Britghton’s defense is unreliable this season
3. Pedro Porro – he is doing so well during Maddison’s absence, is on set pieces, creating many chances, good at Bonus Points
4. Doughty – you would have to rely more on attacking returns rather than clean sheets, 1G + 5A this season so far
5. Walker – an option to get exposure to Manchester City defense during their good fixture run and potential double gameweek soon

Further resources

• Best FPL defenders to pick in Gameweek 21
• Premier League Clean Sheet Odds for Gameweek 21