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1 hour ago
Since his debut in December 2016, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been integral to the way Liverpool play.
Sure, he has played the second-most amount of minutes in the Premier League, behind only Mohamed Salah, but his impact within that is undeniable.
A few metrics to illustrate:
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Total shots – he is fourth behind only storied strike trio Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane;
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Chances created – he has made 514, three more than Salah;
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Combined goals and assists – once again, he is fourth behind the above three;
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Crosses – this is partly because he is top ranked for corners, but it is hardly surprising to see him and Andy Robertson miles clear of anyone else;
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Touches – his 22,180 are clear of Robertson (20,855) and Virgil van Dijk (20,430), with no-one else even close for Liverpool.
And that is just on the ball.
Alexander-Arnold’s defending has, rightly, been scrutinised throughout his time at the club, with his on-ball abilities being offered up as mitigation for perceived weakness in defence.
One area where he has impressed has been interceptions, a nod perhaps to his excellent football brain.
Notching up 307, he is far above Van Dijk (248), with no other player managing more than 200 in the same time.
He is also joint-fourth for blocks (42), behind only Van Dijk (112), Joel Matip (60) and Joe Gomez (45) over the same time period.
However, in the spirit of balance, all of Alexander-Arnold’s defensive rankings should be revealed.
He does feature at the top of some other metrics – and ones that are not as desirable.
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Dribbled past by opposition – this was made public when Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku gave him the runaround in February, albeit with no end product. Similarly…
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Tackles lost – no other Liverpool player has been beaten in a tackle as many times as Alexander-Arnold (147, second is 136);
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Errors leading to shots – only four of his mistakes have ended in goals, but 18 bringing about shots is Liverpool’s second highest in the past eight years, behind goalkeeper Alisson.
Taking the good with the bad has been part of the Alexander-Arnold journey at Liverpool and, despite the above, it is hard to argue he has been anything other than an extraordinary positive at Anfield.
Finding someone to replace his output could well be the next conundrum for Arne Slot and Liverpool fans to deal with.
Related topics
- Liverpool
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