Trent’s creative edge
Trent Alexander‑Arnold has created more chances than any other defender since 2020/21 — 348 assists/creations versus Andy Robertson’s 288 — which underlines why Liverpool rely on him as a playmaker from the back. That gap speaks to his unique role: he isn’t just defending, he’s effectively a primary creator in Liverpool’s attack. (x.com)
Liverpool have spent years using a right-back like most teams use a central playmaker. Since the start of the 2020-21 Premier League season, Trent Alexander-Arnold has created 348 chances, more than any defender, with Liverpool teammate Andy Robertson next on 288. (statmuse.com) That gap is why the usual “good defender or bad defender” argument never really explains him. Alexander-Arnold’s job has often been to hit the pass before the assist, the cross that lands on a striker’s head, or the diagonal ball that turns a back four in one touch. (premierleague.com) The scale of it is easier to see over a longer stretch. Since his Premier League debut on December 14, 2016, Alexander-Arnold has created 488 chances in the competition, and only Kevin De Bruyne and Pascal Gross have created more among all players, not just defenders. (theanalyst.com) He is also the all-time Premier League assist leader among defenders. The Premier League’s own records page listed him on 64 assists by May 2025, ahead of Robertson on 59 and Leighton Baines on 53. (premierleague.com) Liverpool built part of their title-winning identity around that unusual math. Jurgen Klopp’s side pushed both full-backs high, and later versions of the team let Alexander-Arnold drift inside so a nominal defender could act like an extra midfielder in possession. (theanalyst.com) (premierleague.com) That inside movement changed the angles of Liverpool’s attack. Instead of receiving the ball on the touchline and only crossing, Alexander-Arnold could step into central space and play through-balls, switches of play, and set-piece deliveries from positions most right-backs never reach. (premierleague.com) It also explains why Robertson’s numbers, huge by normal standards, still sit well behind Trent’s. Robertson has been a relentless overlapping runner on the left, while Alexander-Arnold has often been the passer the whole move bends around on the right. (skysports.com) The story starts even earlier than the first-team tactics board. Liverpool say Alexander-Arnold joined the academy at age six, switched from midfield to the right side of defense as a teenager, and made his senior debut in 2016, which helps explain why he always looked more natural picking passes than simply holding a defensive line. (liverpoolfc.com) So when people say Liverpool rely on him, they do not just mean set pieces or highlight-reel crosses. They mean a defender who has produced playmaker numbers for half a decade, in a role that turned the right-back spot into one of the team’s main engines for chance creation. (theanalyst.com) (premierleague.com)
