Trent Alexander Arnold scores worldie for England vs Malta while playing midfield | OneFootball

Trent Alexander Arnold marked his first game in midfield for England with a stunning goal vs Malta.

The Liverpool star, who has operated as a full-back for the majority of his career, started centrally for Gareth Southgate's side and even wore the number 10 shirt.

And the Englishman put on a dazzling display for the Three Lions, playing a majestic through ball to Bukayo Saka in just the eighth minute to help set up England's opener.

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Trent scores worldie vs Malta

Trent wasn't finished there either.

In the 28th minute, the Liverpool star picked up the ball on the edge of the box and rifled the ball home with his right foot.

It was a stunning strike and one that will no doubt excite England fans, many of whom have long called for Southgate to try Alexander-Arnold in such a position.

England cruise to victory vs Malta

Despite many players facing long seasons, Southgate's side found themselves relatively untroubled against a lacklustre Malta side.

An own goal gave England the lead, before Trent's stunning finish made it two.

Harry Kane then won and converted a penalty to give his team a 3-0 lead at the break.

England then won another penalty late in the second half, which Calum Wilson converted – sealing a 4-0 win for the Three Lions.

What has Klopp said about Trent in midfield?

Southgate no doubt took inspiration from Jurgen Klopp, who started using Trent as a midfielder near the end of last season.

Speaking on his decision to convert the right-back, Klopp said: “In each position he played for us, Trent was always a super-important player,” Klopp told reporters. “This now slightly advanced role suits him in the moment really well.

“It's good, it’s a challenge for everyone else to cover the spaces when we lose the ball theoretically, but with him there we didn't lose that many balls, which was helpful as well.

“But it's not written in stone (that we stick with it). Why should we? He can play in different ways and how he played the last two games was really, really good, that's true.”

He added: “(We worked on it for) a week but it's not the first time that we play it like that. We have a lot of situations. It's slightly different but not as different as we had it in some other games when Trent was all the time in the right-back position or higher up.

“We had a week. That is absolutely okay. Trent is a smart player but it is more about how we set it up around Trent. That he can play the position was never in doubt but you have to set it up around him because there are moments when we lose the ball, we have a different formation."