The autumn international break is upon us, but it would appear that a beef between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool has carried over from the Premier League into the England camp ahead of their games against Australia and Italy.
The crux of the ongoing row is the recent match between the two clubs on Sept. 30 that was engulfed in VAR controversy over a decision that went against the Reds, who lost the game 2-1 via Joël Matip's stoppage-time own goal.
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This was after Luis Díaz had a first-half goal wrongly disallowed due to a miscommunication between the on-field officials and the VAR overseeing the match. The referees' body (PGMOL) later took the step of releasing the audio of the botched VAR decision and acknowledged that a "significant human error" had been made.
This, in turn, led Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to say a few days later: "Not as a manager of Liverpool so much, more as a football person, I think the only outcome should be a replay." The notion caused outcry among fans and pundits alike as arguments on the feasibility and fairness of such a move raged on for several days.
Thankfully, the international break arrived and club matters were put aside, allowing the heated discourse to die down. Nevertheless, Spurs star Maddison couldn't resist having a little dig at his Reds rival Alexander-Arnold after the pair reported for England duty earlier this week.
Maddison shared a picture on social media of the two training side by side in the gym with Alexander-Arnold gesturing toward his teammate accompanied by the wry caption: "Still asking for a replay!"
Alexander-Arnold has since exercised his right to reply and managed to clap back with force by landing a playful blow on Maddison during a prematch interview with Channel 4, conducted ahead of the Australia match.
Asked about the Instagram post, the right-back offered an alternate version of the conversation that had taken place between the two set-piece specialists, referencing a goal he scored against Maddison's former team Leicester City.
The banter between the Liverpool and Spurs players in this England squad is clearly still going strong 😅#C4Football | #ThreeLions | @KellySomers pic.twitter.com/0bAIgyaN2X
— Channel 4 Sport (@C4Sport) October 13, 2023
"No, he was just asking me how to put a free kick in the top corner," Alexander-Arnold joked.
"I just showed him the video [of] when I scored against Leicester City last year and they got relegated."
Oof.
📖 "One for his scrapbook"
— Premier League (@premierleague) June 7, 2023
What a strike this was from @TrentAA 😍 pic.twitter.com/rXUKWlGLzx
In fairness to Alexander-Arnold, the goal in question was an absolute peach of a strike (even if it wasn't technically a direct free kick -- Mohamed Salah actually teed him up with a little backheel.) But more than that, it came in a 3-0 win at the King Power Stadium on May 15 of last season, right as the Foxes were battling to stay in the top flight.
After that loss, Leicester drew 0-0 at Newcastle and then won their final game of the season at home against West Ham 2-1. Alas, it was not enough to stopping them dropping out of the league which they had won in such amazing circumstances just seven years earlier.
Here's hoping the duo can put their differences aside and bury the hatchet -- at least temporarily -- before England kick off in their friendly against the Socceroos at Wembley on Friday.