Liverpool defeated Crystal Palace by a 3-1 scoreline last week to reduce the points gap with league leaders Manchester City to nine points with a game in-hand.
It was a stellar performance by Jurgen Klopp’s men but the second-half was a not so convincing one for the Reds. The fact that the German coach was fuming at the touch-line shows that he wanted his team to dominate the game.
Fabinho’s penalty goal ensured that things end smoothly for them. But all these struggles are rare to see from such a class Liverpool side. Class because they have hardly given their opponents enough time to hold the ball for any longer than a minute.
That sounds hypothetical but one statistics shows exactly what we are trying to explain: In the last five matches in all competitions, Liverpool’s opposition team have been able to hit just 11 shots on target combined (Shrewsbury- 2, Arsenal- 1, Brentford- 1, Again Arsenal- 2, Crystal Palace- 5).
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So if we breakdown the number of on target shots that the Liverpool defense have let in is 1.8 shots per game. This statistics shows that Jurgen Klopp’s two powerful center-backs Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have been rock solid in defense.
But what about the other two defenders- Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson. Both have been giving nightmares to opposition full-backs. Robertson put in two remarkable assists against Crystal Palace. He has now provided eight assists this season which shows his importance in the set-up.
However, its not surprising to see him and Trent Alexander-Arnold put up some insane assists numbers as they have been already doing it from the past three seasons.
But how good has been Trent Alexander-Arnold. Whatever you say about this lad, his passing is exquisite, his crosses are so dangerous to deal with and his set-piece deliveries is one of the best in the league.
Do you think this is only contribution that Trent Alexander-Arnold has been putting up for Liverpool?
We will answer this question, but for that let’s dug deep into the topic.
As provided by the Premier League’s official website, the English right-back’s statistics for Liverpool in the 2021-22 Premier League season:
Matches Played: 20
Goals Scored: 2
Assists Provided: 10
xG (Expected Goals): 2.0
xA(Expected Assists): 7.5
Interceptions: 27
Clearances: 23
This report is based on a comparison of his performance with other right-backs playing in the top five leagues over the past one year.
The above chat clearly states that the English right-back has put in far better performances than other quality right-backs with 99 percentage completion in most of his statistical play.
Only Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic had a bit better numbers than him in the past one year, But still this year Trent Alexander Arnold is leading the charts with 10 assists and a higher xA value than any other right-back.
The 23 year-old right-back has already provided 10 assists this season and he is on the verge of breaking his own record of 13 assists which he provided in 2019/20 season.
Look at this statistics provided by Statsman Dave:
Trent Alexander-Arnold has reached 10 league assists for the third time in four seasons:
19/20 – 13
18/19 – 12
21/22 – 10*His creativity continues. 🎯👏 pic.twitter.com/uF7ZDHAZTl
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) January 16, 2022
Trent Alexander Arnold has been playing heavy metal football under Jurgen Klopp. He has been completing 11 progressive passes in 90 minutes in the Premier League this season and this is way higher than most other defender in the league.
He has been the prime set-piece taker and has been putting in some dangerous deliveries that swings in within no time. Tall center-backs Van Dijk and Konate are able to head them quite comfortably due to the pace and swing on the ball.
If you look at Trent’s cross for Diogo Jota against Crystal Palace, you will get to witness the nature of his crosses. It swung in, went pass the center backs and straight at the feet of Jota who was then able to race openly at goal.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold’s vision to find out his teammates is second to none. It has happened an ample amount of times that the opposition defenders are slow to stop him on his tracks only to see him run swiftly through the right flank and put in a deadly cross for the strikers.
Sadio Mane has been the most welcoming recipient of Trent’s crosses. The right-back has provided 11 goals for Mane. He has further provided eight goals for Salah, seven for Jota and six goals for Van Dijk (which proves the above point that he has been favoring Liverpool’s center-backs to score more goals through his pinpoint crosses).
In total, the in-form right-back has provided 57 goals in 204 games for Liverpool. Make no mistake that most of them half come in the past three season and those numbers is growing continuously.
The reason behind people still mocking the right-back is his inability to defend well but if we tell you that he has always been present in the back-line and never fails to move away from his natural position.
The heat-map below describes his defensive awareness pretty well:
Trent has been busy patrolling the entire right-flank and his defensive weaknesses is a mere past. Jurgen Klopp has been training the young right-back to track back quickly after moving ahead in attack.
Even in case, him and Robertson decides to stay upfield and provide more attacking movements, either Fabinho or Jordan Henderson drop down to the defense to make it look like a 3-5-3 formation.
In the 2021/22 season, the 23 year old defender has been dictating the right flank heavily and he has been never caught of guard by opposition defenders while counter-attacking.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold has made 59 tackles plus interceptions this season, which is way higher than Reece James 29 tackles plus interceptions in 21 games. The English right-back also has 65% tackle success rate.
He has been performing brilliantly in every aspect but his attacking output has been the major talking point. The above pie chart shows that he his main specialty is creating assists and defense.
He has been improving every single day and Jurgen Klopp deserves the credit for bringing up such a beast. The 23-year-old has a lot of years left to play, and you will soon see him breaking all the record in the Premier League.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been not only an influential figure in this team but he has also earned many fans all-around the world. People love watching Liverpool play every weekend, and players like these make every game special.
We must say, he is Anfield’s ‘the prized asset’.
