This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
It was a bad day at the office for Liverpool on Sunday.
The Reds were far from their best as they scraped a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Adam Lallana scored the crucial equaliser with five minutes to spare after falling behind to a Marcus Rashford strike in the first half. There were some reassuring performances from Andrew Robertson and Lallana. However, there were also many poor showings on the day and one player stands out more than the rest.
Watch a Liverpool fan discover the internet and get a nasty surprise in the video below…
Trent Alexander-Arnold has certainly had better games in a Liverpool shirt, and the 21-year-old will want to move from this game in a hurry. Usually, his flexible box-to-box play on the right-hand side for Liverpool has a fine balance of excellent attacking credentials and resolute defending. On Sunday, his balls to the attackers were wayward on many occasions and the front three were left isolated due to his poor delivery.
The 21-year-old’s passing was out of character for someone who racked up 12 assists last season in the Premier League. Alexander-Arnold had more of the ball than any Liverpool player on the pitch with 112 touches as manager Jurgen Klopp made it very clear that he was targeting the defensive weakness of the Manchester United skipper Ashley Young.
The Liverpudlian only made two successful crosses in 11 attempts during the game and only five of his long balls were accurate out of the 13 that were attempted. In total, the youngster accumulated a pass success rate of just under 74%, which was way below his opposite number Andrew Robertson on the left-hand side.
Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Defensively, the Melwood academy graduate was very ineffective as he did not make a single tackle during the 90 minutes. He was dribbled past on one occasion and could find himself becoming unstuck against better sides in the Premier League and Europe if his performances fail to improve.
After a sensational campaign last year, he has shown that there are elements of inconsistency to his game that he must work on. However, with Alexander-Arnold at the age of just 21, he is destined to improve as he ages and matures.
