Trent Alexander-Arnold has equaled the Premier League assist record set by Cesc Fabregas. In registering his 10th assist in setting up Jordan Henderson with his pin-point corner ball in the match against Wolves, he has pulled clear of Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard.
It’s safe to say Trent Alexander-Arnold is enjoying the season of his young life, with football records falling at his feet as the weeks go by. The first defender to produce 10 assists in separate seasons, Alexander-Arnold is the joint youngest, along with Cesc Fabregas, to achieve the feat.
Unquestionably Trent Alexander-Arnold has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the last 18 months and picked up three trophies in 2019 and now the Liverpool and England star wants more. Renowned for his consistently dangerous pinpoint delivery, he is currently the highest-valued full-back in the world at £93.9m.
After another impressive performance against Wolves, the 21 year-old blazed new trails by setting yet another Premier League record. And in so doing has become the first ever defender to register 10 assists in consecutive seasons, showcasing his meteoric rise as one of the world’s most potent attacking full backs.
In equalling Cesc Fabregas’ record, Alexander-Arnold sits as only the second player in Premier League history to reach 10 assists in two separate seasons aged 21 or younger.
The young Liverpool star’s achievement is made all the more impressive when compared to Fabregas, who was primarily an attacking midfielder, positioned just behind the main strikers like Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp and feeding their runs, Alexander-Arnold has been sublime in sending razor-sharp assists for all his team-mates in various positions all over the pitch.
With a total of 22 assists for the Reds since the start of last season, the 21 year-old’s tally is still likely to be increased with 15 matches remaining in the current campaign. When compared alongside the top assist makers of Europe’s top five leagues, Alexander-Arnold’s figures become all the more remarkable. His ongoing total of 22 sits three ahead of Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, and five ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.
It is interesting to note that Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard had tipped the then 18 year-old to be a success even before Jurgen Klopp arrived at Merseyside. Quite the praise for the teenager, who admits he used to pretend to be Gerrard when he was playing as a kid.
Alexander-Arnold, now only 21, is yearning to reach a third successive Champions League final and says he is looking forward to the touchline antics of Kop boss Jurgen Klopp and Atletico’s Diego Simeone.
“Hopefully we can get to another Champions League final, but we’ve got a difficult draw,” he said.
“Atletico are a stubborn team, hard to break down, with a passionate manager. It’ll be interesting to see which of the two managers on the touchline is more passionate!”
“We enjoyed the Champions League last year because we had such a tough run. Every game was against a different type of opponent after a really tough group.”
“We had a tough group this year (Napoli, RB Salzburg and Genk) and now a tough round-of-16 opponent, but we like to be tested as a team because it brings the best out of us. If you want to be the best you have to beat the best, so for us it’s about testing ourselves. Hopefully we’ll be able to go back to Istanbul again, which would be massive for the club.”
“But to have a perfect 2020 we need to win as many trophies as possible.”
And you can definitely believe that this is one fullback who’s not going to let any opportunities slip by on his watch.