Trent Alexander-Arnold became the first player to create 100-plus chances in the Premier League this season ahead of Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes.
Liverpool made sure that they kept pace with Manchester City in the table by beating Newcastle United 3-1, despite the away side taking the lead through Jonjo Shelvey after the former Red scored with a fantastic long-range strike.
Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah struck back quickly to ensure that Anfield never got panicky. But it was Alexander-Arnold who deserves the bulk of the credit. The Scouser was simply outstanding and, along with Thiago, he ran the game.
He took 113 touches and played three key passes, according to WhoScored. He only had one shot on target and he made it count, scoring from range in style to make it 12 goals and assists in all competitions this season from full-back.
To put that into perspective, Bernardo Silva, who is having an outstanding season and is a fantastic player in his own right, has more attacking contributions and plays as an attacking midfielder. Trent is a right-back. He is also four years younger.
According to a tweet from Squawka, Alexander-Arnold is the first player in 2021 to create 100-plus chances in the Premier League.
This is not some fluke either. He has the assists to go with it and the match-controlling presence we have come to know and expect.
He has beaten the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes to the punch this year and the £160,000/week Liverpool star is up there with some great players in KDB (2020 – 107 chances), KDB (2019 – 103), Maddison (2019 – 101), Hazard (2018 – 101), Ozil (2017 – 114).
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