Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold to earn a midfield start while Konate may be benched

Liverpool will have ten players at Euro 2024. As of June 15th, Andy Robertson for Scotland and Dominik Szoboszlai have played matches, while the other eight players will make their Euro 2024 debuts in the coming days. On Sunday, Trent Alexander-Arnold and England will take on Serbia, and Ibrahima Konate and France will face Austria on Monday. Both players may have very different starts to the tournament.

Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold to earn a midfield start while Konate may be benched

Trent Alexander-Arnold will play his first Euro match on Sunday against Serbia. He missed Euro 2020 with an injury that prevented him from being called up by Gareth Southgate in 2021. Over the last two years, Alexander-Arnold has transformed into more of a midfielder than an out-and-out right-back. Of course, Trent is no stranger to the midfield, as it's a position he played often as a youngster.

With Kyle Walker expected to start at right-back for the Three Lions, Trent Alexander-Arnold will have to take his place in Southgate's starting XI through the midfield. That is also expected to happen on June 16th, with Trent earning a midfield start against Serbia. While there has been no official "leaked" lineup, all signs point to the Liverpool boy being on the starting XI sheet.

Reports suggest that Alexander-Arnold has trained this week as a midfielder with England. Trent could start in the midfield along with Arsenal's Declan Rice and Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham on Sunday.

There is some level of risk in putting Alexander-Arnold in the midfield, even if he has succeeded offensively in the new role. Defensively, there is plenty left to be desired, and England will need to be perfect at clogging up the midfield in the latter stages of the tournament, where the matches can be lost or won.

Ibrahima Konate, on the other hand, now looks unlikely to start for Didier Deschamps in France's opener against Austria. L'Equipe reports that William Saliba is now positioned to start alongside Bayern Munich's Dayot Upamencano in the middle of the French backline.

Saliba started in France's last friendly before the Euros, against Canada, which ended in a 0-0 draw. Should France have a strong start to their group-stage play, Konate may see a start in their final match against Poland if they have a knockout spot secured. The Liverpool defender already rode the bench to end the season with the Reds, so losing a starting spot for the Euros has to hurt the 25-year-old.