Trent Alexander-Arnold has had some creative ups and downs for Liverpool recently, which is causing problems for Jürgen Klopp ahead of the Merseyside derby.
There are many question marks over Jürgen Klopp’s squad selection for the upcoming Merseyside derby.
The combination of injuries and players returning from international duty means the Liverpool manager can only have a very rough draft of his starting XI for Saturday at this stage .
Although we will have a slightly clearer picture of the situation once the pre-match press conference takes place, it is highly unlikely that Andy Robertson will be involved.
Diogo Jota will be able to return after suspension, but Curtis Jones still has to wait to do the same.
We will also have to wait and see if Cody Gakpo recovers from the injury that forced him to withdraw from Tottenham.
With Sean Dyche’s Everton guaranteed to play low blocks, challenging the Red Devils to break them down, Klopp’s more creative players will have to play to their full potential.
Players like Robertson will clearly be missed.
One player who should clearly contribute is Trent Alexander-Arnold, but the data suggests the assists maestro has been below average in the 2023/24 season.
Notably, in the 2-2 draw against Brighton, the England international did not create any opportunities during his 80 minutes on the field.
Such a thing is not unprecedented, but there are only 21 league matches in which he has played at least that long without scoring a key pass, out of 173 matches in which he has played more than 79 minute.
But Alexander-Arnold was also unlucky at Amex, and going on for a long time without a goal scored or a chance created was just the typical example in nine matches.
One example happened against Chelsea in the opening game of the season, meaning it happened twice in six league matches for the first time since 2017/18, their breakthrough campaign.
These may be extreme examples, but the data on Understat underscores the point.
Alexander-Arnold’s key pass rate per 90 minutes is lower than any of the last four campaigns, and you could add another season to find out when the expected assist rate is (xA) was worse than last time.
We can break down the statistics even further.
In three of Alexander-Arnold’s five games to start this season, he has failed to create any chances from open play, and in the five he has mustered (in home games against Bournemouth and Aston Villa) only had a total of 0.
34 expected assists.
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This gives him an xA per 90 ratio of 0.
07 after the set pieces were dropped this season.
Interestingly, his last outing, at such a low, ended in October last year, with subsequent runs coming in the same month in 2018 and also resulting in a ninth in 2020/21.
Has Alexander-Arnold’s fitness and conditioning regime caused him to start the new season slowly?
Perhaps most worrying is whether the much-lauded tactical change that has seen Liverpool’s right-back switch to midfield when in possession of the ball will have a negative impact.
There have certainly been highs, with the games against Leeds and Southampton being the two most creative of Alexander-Arnold’s Premier League career, at least in terms of the number of assists expected in the games.
open match.
But he also didn’t offer anything against Nottingham Forest or Leicester (other than set pieces), so there was a boom or bust atmosphere.
No matter how talented this 25-year-old player is, it will take some time to adapt to the new system.
The Red Devils could certainly benefit from some creative consistency, especially in the face of injuries and suspensions.
Any analysis at this stage of 2023/24 is riddled with asterisks.
When Alexander-Arnold returned from a four-match injury absence, he came off the bench in Liverpool’s nine-man squad in north London.
But even if the bad luck the Reds suffered played a role in his numbers, the concern is legitimate.
Klopp needs his creative trump card back and a visit to Everton would be the perfect time for his return
