Trent Alexander-Arnold has opened up on how much he's missed Liverpool faithful at Anfield as they get set to return this weekend
Liverpool host Wolves on Sunday for a game that will be attended by 2,000 supporters as Anfield hosts its first match with paying fans since mid-March.
Alexander-Arnold said the absence of supporters made it tougher for the Reds to adjust initially and admitted their presence is key to the champions maintaining their intense approach to games under Jurgen Klopp.
Ahead of the weekend's fixture, the Liverpool defender sat down with former Arsenal striker Ian Wright to discuss a range of topics in association with Red Bull.
And while the Liverpool right-back remains a doubt for the game with a calf problem, he says it will be great to have fans back inside Anfield for the first time March 12.
Alexander-Arnold said: "It’s difficult because you don't realise how much fans influence game plans, like with momentum and the sounds you can hear…I miss the fans so much. It feels empty without them.
"Even though you know they're watching at home and they're all over the world tuning in, it's not the same without them. Football’s not the same.
"Obviously times are hard and stuff like that but it's the world we live in right now.
"I miss the route into the stadium, all the fans there, tens of thousands waiting to greet us every single game.
"No matter what there's at least ten thousand fans just waiting to watch the bus come into the stadium, it's crazy.
"I hear the crowd at times, yes. Especially with the way we play, someone makes a tackle, even with the manager he gets excited, because the fans are excited.
"And it’s like a knock-on effect. If our intensity’s there the fan’s intensity is there, and if the fan intensity’s there so is ours.
"I'm telling you there’s something in the stadium, like spiritual. It’s just something in the atmosphere, you can feel the history, you can feel [the force]."
"The Barcelona game (2019 Champions League semi-final) was obviously amazing but that Man City game (in 2018), I've never felt like that.
"The only negative about those nights is you can't speak to your centre-back as you can't even hear them.
"You're screaming at the top of your lungs, and they can't hear you!
"You're trying to tell them 'your shoulder, watch your shoulder' but they can't hear you. That’s the only negative but it’s a positive really."
After a three-month suspension of football, the Reds returned to action behind closed doors when they visited Everton last season for a goalless draw in June.
Alexander-Arnold admitted he expected the lack of fans to leave Premier League fixtures resembling "weird" training games.
"I expected [playing without fans] to be like a training game and a bit weird, but it was a lot more difficult than what I thought," he added.
"You don't realise how much fans can even impact game plans.
"After the Everton game, I remember coming off the pitch thinking that they were on top for the last 20 minutes but that they hadn’t actually pushed us that hard.
"Now if their fans had been there, they’d have pushed their players to keep going, which would have probably opened them up and then we could have countered – but that didn’t happen.
"That’s when I realised it was going to be different to what I expected."
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