Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a stunning goal to help Liverpool beat second division side Accrington Stanley 4-0 at Anfield in the third round of the FA Cup.

The England international – whose contract expires at the end of the season and is the subject of strong transfer interest from Real Madrid – scored the second goal to secure a comfortable victory for the Premier League leaders at the end of a week that was once again dominated by speculation about his future. His goal came after Diogo Jota had scored the first goal on Merseyside. Academy graduate Jayden Danns and summer signing Federico Chiesa both came on as substitutes and secured the win in the second half.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot made eight changes to the side narrowly beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, bringing in Rio Ngumoha, who made his first senior appearance at the age of 16 years and 135 days made his senior debut, becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to play in the FA Cup.

Liverpool dominated the early stages as Darwin Núñez headed over the bar after a fine cross from Harvey Elliott within seven minutes. Alexander-Arnold, captaining the team in Virgil van Dijk’s absence, almost broke the deadlock a few minutes later when he parried Everton loanee Billy Crellin before Núñez fired the rebound over the crossbar.

However, the Uruguay international was involved in Liverpool’s opening game by intercepting Alexander-Arnold’s through ball and passing it on to Jota, who parried the ball home from close range after 30 minutes. Elliot almost doubled the hosts’ lead after another clever counter-attack from Liverpool, but the striker’s effort was confidently parried by Crellin before Alexander-Arnold fired home a great shot from the edge of the box just before half-time.

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The 26-year-old capped a first half in which Liverpool had 84.6% possession with a single touch before firing the ball into the top corner. He beamed as he celebrated in front of the home crowd, just six days after he became the subject of intense criticism for his disappointing performance in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United.

Italy international Federico Chiesa, making only his fifth appearance for the club since joining from Juventus in the summer, replaced Dominik Szoboszlai at half-time and made an almost immediate impact, his shot deflecting narrowly wide just minutes after the restart.

Accrington threatened to halve the deficit through young Liverpool fan Josh Woods, who rattled the crossbar with a menacing shot from 20 yards just before the hour. Woods had gone viral in the weeks leading up to the game after a video of his enthusiastic reaction to the third-round draw was posted online.

His near-miss seemed to breathe new life into the visitors, whose captain Shaun Whalley wasted a superb opportunity to get into the net after a well-worked corner routine. However, Liverpool responded well to pressure from Accrington and Chiesa forced Crellin into a neat save at the near post.

The Accrington goalkeeper was again denied by the Italian in the 76th minute, but this time Liverpool substitute Danns was on hand to score the rebound before Chiesa secured the hosts’ place in the fourth round with a clever strike in the final minute of the game Finishing in the bottom corner saved time.