Analysis: Alexander-Arnold’ now better than Mesut Ozil at creating

Trent Alexander-Arnold shone in Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on the road. He assisted on two goals for the home team before being replaced in the midst of the second half due to injury.

In the encounter against Aston Villa, Alexander-Arnold directly assisted youngster Dominik Szoboszlai in Liverpool’s first goal and contributed to another home goal. That figure alone demonstrates the significance of this 24-year-old star in the attacking style of the English port city team.

The successful pass versus Aston Villa helped Alexander-Arnold achieve a number of records. In 2023, he became the third Premier League player with ten or more successful passes, trailing only Leandro Trossard (Arsenal) and teammate Mohamed Salah. This is also the third year in a row that Liverpool’s vice-captain has had 10 or more Premier League assists, following 2019 (17 assists) and 2021 (13 assists).

With that incredible performance, the England star has brought the total number of instances in the English Premier League where he has directly “clean up” for teammates to score to 55. The Liverpool star has exceeded it in terms of assists. Many cult passers, such as Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, and Mesut Ozil – all of whom have 54 goals – used to storm the murky country.

This year marks Alexander-Arnold’s 24th birthday. If he maintains his recent playmaking form, Liverpool’s vice-captain will undoubtedly continue to provide a break for many Premier League legends. It should be noted that the Liverpool defender is only one “clearance” behind former Manchester United legend Eric Cantona and is now on par with another notorious Red Devils midfielder from the past, Paul Scholes.

Back to the game against Aston Villa at Anfield. Alexander-Arnold is one of Liverpool’s most active players. He completed 76 passes with an accuracy rate of 91% before being injured and replaced by Jarell Quansah. This 24-year-old player, in particular, had 5 instances that caused the away team’s goal to wobble, not including the assist for Szoboszlai to open the scoring.

With that kind of performance, it’s clear to see why Alexander-Arnold received the second highest Sofascore in this match, despite only playing for 71 minutes. Specifically, the English player received 8.1 points, trailing only forward Mohamed Salah by 0.1 point. If the 24-year-old’s injury is significant and he has miss time on the field, it will be a tragedy for coach Jurgen Klopp’s club.

Alexander-Arnold is known to be on coach Gareth Southgate’s recent England national team call-up list to prepare for matches in the EURO 2024 qualifiers against Ukraine and Scotland.

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