Trent Alexander-Arnold had one stat vs Brighton that’s more worrying than his defending

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One Trent Alexander-Arnold stat vs Brighton was far more worrying than his defending. The right-back is not in good form.

Trent Alexander-Arnold got stick for his defending against Brighton and rightfully so. He struggled to contend with Kaoru Mitomu once he came on for the Seagulls bu even before that, too much happened down his right-hand side.

Not that Liverpool exactly helped him out. Alexander-Arnold was frequently isolated in defence and found himself with two players to mark on the opening goal. The Reds, as a whole, are failing to function and making certain players’ weaknesses glaringly obvious.

But more worrying is that Alexander-Arnold didn’t even utilise his strengths against Brighton. His number of touches was the third-highest in the game but comparatively low to him at his best. The right-back usually boasts the most – and by some distance.

Trent Alexander-Arnold struggles even outside of defending

The real standout stat is the fact that Alexander-Arnold didn’t create any chances against Brighton, per FBref. This, of course, is supposed to be the strength that overpowers any possible weaknesses in the Scouser’s game.

Now, this did happen twice last season. Alexander-Arnold didn’t create anything in a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace or a 2-1 win over Aston Villa. Notably, both were away from home and, of course, Liverpool won both games.

The last home game in which Alexander-Arnold created no chances was against Manchester United in January 2021. This was, again, notable as there were no fans in the stadium and Liverpool were in an injury crisis.

The last time with fans? A 4-0 win over Southampton in February 2020. A game in which Liverpool didn’t really need him to create any chances.

In other words, this is a rare occurrence and a worrying one. It’s worth mentioning that Alexander-Arnold did create four against Ajax and five in the loss to Napoli. He did only create one each against Everton and Newcastle United, however.

The 23-year-old is badly out of sorts right now. Not only is he failing to keep players out but Alexander-Arnold just isn’t making things happen going forward.

A massive part of that is the team struggling, of course. But there’s little doubt about the effect on the Reds’ rampant right-back. He’s just not anywhere near his best.