Liverpool’s hunt for their 20th league title has taken a major setback after dropping a few points in six games played this season. The Reds started the English Premier League season with two draws and a loss. They won back-to-back games but had to settle for a draw in their last league match played before the international break. The attack and defence are yet to find their rhythm on the field, and that has led to poor results. One of the players who has started the season at a slow rate is their right-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold. The 23-year-old received a lot of criticism for his defensive displays in some of the matches. Liverpool have conceded a few goals from attacks created by the opposition from the left side. Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of the top players for the Reds last season. Let us look at some of the stats that will show how the youngster fared in the first six matches of the last season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold finished last season with two goals and 12 assists in the English Premier League. This season, he has already scored a goal but is yet to provide the final pass that could lead to a goal.
Trent Alexander-Arnold averages 73.37 passes per 90 minutes and has a low accuracy rate of 76.1%. His passing average last season was 78.1%, and this has been low due to the number of passes that the full-back delivers into dangerous areas. This season, the full-back has already attempted 41 crosses, 80 passes to the final third and 63 pass to the penalty area. A total of 18 crosses, 49 passes to the final third, and 33 passes to the penalty area have been successful, but none of them have been converted into a goal. Last season, at the same stage, Arnold attempted 31 crosses, 66 passes to the final third and 41 passes to the penalty area. 15 crosses, 47 passes to the final third, and 23 passes to the penalty box were delivered. This season, Arnold is trying hard to get the final result, but that has affected his passing accuracy.
The above viz shows the dribbling areas as well as the crosses delivered by the player. As mentioned earlier, Trent has attempted 41 crosses so far and only 18 have been delivered. Some of the crosses have been cleared, while the ones that have found a teammate are either saved or are off target.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has performed fewer defensive actions this season than he did in the first six games of last season. In the first six matches of last season, Arnold contested 44 defensive duels, 13 aerial duels, and 21 loose ball duels. He won 25 defensive duels, seven aerial duels, and seven loose ball duels. This season, he has contested 23 defensive duels, six aerial duels, and 14 loose ball duels. The player has managed to win 16 of his defensive duels, three aerial duels, and five loose ball duels. This shows that the player has less involvement in defensive actions this season. The interceptions have also gone down from 29 to 14. However, one of the areas where the player has performed well is in recovering the ball. He recovered the ball 46 times last time and 21 were made inside the opposition half. This season, 56 recoveries have been made, 26 of them inside the opposition half. The above viz shows that Trent Alexander-Arnold has made 13 recoveries in the final third.
The full-back has attacked more in recent games. This was basically due to Liverpool’s struggles to win the match. They had to stay on the attack most of the time. Trent has proved to be vulnerable in defence on occasions and has received criticism for that. However, the player has a lot of potential and will look to improve his stats going further into the season.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
