Jeremy Doku Opens Up About Regret Over Humiliating Trent Alexander-Arnold

Manchester City winger, Jeremy Doku, acknowledged that he could have capitalized further on his advantage against Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold during the Premier League match on Sunday.

City were comfortably beaten by Liverpool thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai in the first half, falling a full 20 points behind the Premier League leaders as a result.

However, Pep Guardiola highlighted several positives in the performance of a young City squad that is undergoing a reconstruction, even though their hopes of achieving an unprecedented fifth consecutive league title are definitively over.

Liverpool executed the game perfectly from a tactical point of view, but City dominated the ball for large parts and were far from played off the pitch.

Doku had Alexander-Arnold on metaphorical toast, constantly beating his marker with speedy dribbles.

The Belgian showcased an impressive performance, completing 15 dribbles and winning 16 duels, according to Fotmob, leading both categories.

In contrast, Alexander-Arnold struggled, losing 12 duels, the highest of any player on the field, and being dribbled past 12 times, which placed extra pressure on his Liverpool teammates.

But Doku regrets not being able to take advantage of that, often following up those successful dribbles with the wrong choice final ball, or one that was sub-par.

“As an attacker, it’s also very important to pass your player and then find the right pass the number of times I got past, I could have done better with the final pass to look for my teammate,” he said.

On one occasion in particular, Doku had dribbled his way into open space but then didn’t see the dangerous run being made by Omar Marmoush and the attack fizzled out.

“I need to analyze the game and see what I could have done better,” Doku continued.

“[Liverpool] score two goals early and then it’s difficult to find the spaces when they play very deep. Those goals make the difference and it’s frustrating.”

Doku’s output has often been a source of frustration for City. In 46 Premier League appearances, he has scored just six goals a relatively meager return considering he’s started 28 of those matches and has chalked up 12 assists. Just four of those have come during the 2024/25 season.

The 22-year-old has been linked with a potential move to Barcelona; however, it seems improbable that the Citizens would want to part ways with him less than two years into his five-year contract.

Additionally, the Catalan club lacks the financial resources to make such a deal feasible.