Alisson Becker couldn’t believe the quality of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass to set up Liverpool’s second goal last night.
The Reds’ ‘keeper was speaking to LFCTV GO (1min 53secs) after the full-time whistle against Benfica. When asked about Trent’s vision to play in Luis Diaz for Mane’s goal, Alisson said his teammate sees things other simply cannot.
“Sometimes it looks as if he has got eyes on his back!” laughed the goalkeeper. “He just gets the ball and puts it there. The diagonal ball for Luis was amazing, then the decision Luis had to give the ball to Sadio – it was an amazing goal.”
It was exceptional football all-round from Liverpool. Diaz’s lay-off for Mane was such clever play. But the star of the show was Alexander-Arnold’s incredible faded pass over the top of the defence.
Like he was never away
You wouldn’t have known that Trent had just returned from injury. The right-back slotted straight into Liverpool’s set-up almost immediately. There was no sign of any rustiness at all.
There are very few players in world football who could play that type of pass time and time again. As Liverpool fans we see it almost every game from Alexander-Arnold.
At times, his teammates aren’t quite on the same wave-length and the pass scampers away. But when it comes together, as it did last night, it is absolutely beautiful to watch.
The Scouser almost repeated the trick shortly afterwards with an even better pass. Letting the ball run through his legs, he played an unbelievable inch-perfect 40-yard pass for Mohamed Salah.
It was a demonstration of the kind of delivery that has seen him draw comparisons to England legend David Beckham.
Unfortunately the Egyptian was thwarted by the excellent Odysseas Vlachodimos. That denied him what would have been one of the assists of the season.
Ready for the run-in
The array of passes to create chances underlined just how integral Alexander-Arnold is to Liverpool. If he hadn’t have recovered from his hamstring injury so quickly, The Reds would surely have had to wave their quadruple dreams goodbye.
As it is, the number 66 is looking as good as ever as Liverpool approach a huge month. He missed the game against Manchester City last time out. Pep Guardiola will have to come up with a plan to limit his influence at the Etihad.
In this kind of form, you’d back him to pick holes even in the best defence in the Premier League.
Great to have you back, Trent.
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