Trent Alexander-Arnold Sets Personal Best in Liverpool Role

Trent Alexander-Arnold clearly enjoyed his new hybrid role in Liverpool’s 6-1 win over Leeds, as he hit a new personal best for passes. It took some time for the No. 66 to get into his stride and for Liverpool to find their structure, but when he did, he pulled the strings at Elland Road. Alexander-Arnold had been struggling as a more orthodox right-back for much of the season, but he shifted to a fluid midfield role in the past two games, though nominally still a right-back. This role allowed Alexander-Arnold to get on the ball and make things happen again, and according to Opta’s Michael Reid, it saw him produce the most successful passes of any game in his senior career (124). From 136 attempts, he found his target with 124, with a pass accuracy of 91.2 percent bettered only by Virgil van Dijk (96.5%) and Alisson (91.3%). The 24-year-old touched the ball 153 times, which was 92 more than the most-involved Leeds player, Rasmus Kristensen (61), and one fewer than their next three – Marc Roca, Weston McKennie and Junior Firpo – combined (154). Alexander-Arnold also had two assists to go along with it – first for Cody Gakpo‘s opener and then Darwin Nunez‘s touch and finish to make it 6-1 – which brought his Premier League tally to 50. Only two other defenders have hit a half-century of assists in the English top flight, those being Andy Robertson (55) and Leighton Baines (53). In his post-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp saw the positives in tweaking Alexander-Arnold’s position, saying “you could see that he enjoyed it.” He went on to say “He won the ball back for the first goal from that position, really stepping out. It was good. Impressive. I think the highlight was the last pass [for Nunez], but he had a few more from that position. Wherever Trent is, he can be decisive with his passes. He was this very often for us, that’s how it is. Tonight was a good game. You could see that he enjoyed!”