Few football players have catchphrases; most have a characteristic move that makes them famous. Trent Alexander-Arnold, however, has adopted the standard greeting of “how may I aid you?”
At the very least, it did before to this season. Twelve of Liverpool’s players had officially assisted on a goal in 2022–23 prior to their devastating 3–1 loss at Brentford, but their starting right-back was not one of them. Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain‘s goal against the Bees served as nothing more than a consolation for Alexander-Arnold to end his protracted goalless streak.
His paperwork had said he would receive assistance. The 24-year-old made an exquisite ball that resulted in Aston Villa’s first goal before putting in the cross that led to Wout Faes’ first goal.The.The 24-year-old played a sublime pass which led to the opening goal at Aston Villa, before delivering the cross that resulted in Wout Faes’ first own goal in the victory over Leicester. He’s also been unlucky too.
Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Nunez, and Mohamed Salah had each created eight clear-cut opportunities prior to the Brentford game, which was a Liverpool team-high. However, only the former had failed to see any of them converted. By contrast, Andy Robertson had created four assists from his opportunities while creating one fewer golden opportunity. Nunez has unhappily been learning since the World Cup that finishing is crucial.
Given that Alexander-Arnold has sustained his season-long baseline inventiveness rate, his assist drought was always likely to come to an end. The fact that it was for Oxlade-Chamberlain and more precisely in connection to where he was on the squad is more intriguing than the fact that he finally created a goal in 2022–2023.
Although Liverpool’s number 66 has been able to add through-balls to his game by playing more centrally, there is no denying that his greatest strength is his crossing. 32 of his 61 career assists, according to WhoScored, fell within this category.
This explains why he has only assisted Salah on a small number of goals.You’d assume a team’s top scorer and leading assist provider would link up regularly but that’s far less likely when they play on the same flank and occupy the same areas much of the time.
The best convertors of Alexander-probabilities Arnold’s demonstrate this. Around 17 different players, starting with Alisson Becker and moving ahead across the team, have contributed to his club assists. Trent has assisted eight goals for Salah, nine for Diogo Jota, and 12 for former Red Sadio Mane, who is now Trent’s top assister. In a 1-0 victory over West Ham last season, the latter’s final such goal came when he started in the center of the attack, but otherwise he was on the left of the front three.
Jota has received four assists from Alexander-Arnold when he starts on the left, despite the fact that the central forward sees the field much more frequently.The latter’s final such goal occurred when he started in the centre of the attack – in a 1-0 win over West Ham last season – but otherwise he was on the left of the front three.
Despite featuring far more often as the central forward, Jota has been assisted four times by Alexander-Arnold when he has started on the left. Three of them occurred in massive wins at Manchester United and Arsenal too.
At Brentford, Oxlade-Chamberlain began there and scored, while Luis Diaz scored a goal resembling this one in a Champions League semifinal courtesy to a cross from Alexander-Arnold. Simply put, the abundance of examples is great news for Cody Gakpo, the Reds’ most recent addition.
The Netherlands international has scored relatively few headers despite standing 193 cm tall (just two in his career, per WhoScored). But it’s doubtful that he would have benefited from speeches as razor-sharp as those Alexander-Arnold frequently delivers.
In the Eredivisie, the three starting right backs for PSV Eindhoven have combined for just 12 chances.Trent created 90 Premier League chances, although they were a tad more effective previous season, offering 37 opportunities in 34 games. It’s like day and night.
Naturally, not all of them will have gone to Liverpool’s left-sided forwards, so Gakpo shouldn’t anticipate a sudden influx of opportunities to score goals. The professional history of Alexander-Arnold, though, demonstrates his capacity to satisfy players in that position, and his talent may just open up a fresh source of goals for the January signing.