Trent Alexander-Arnold reinvented the wheel at AWB’s expense

Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold has been compared to Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the past.

This is the second part of a two part article that explores these themes. You can find part one here.

Which of the two is the best attacker?

Let us be honest, when you watch the two teams play, it is evident that both players adopt a highly contrasting style of play. When it comes to playing in the final third, Alexander-Arnold is much better than Wan-Bissaka.

When it comes to playing near their own box, the story is slightly different.

Alexander-Arnold has become known for his creativity in attack, his passing range, pin-point accuracy with crosses and free-kick capabilities make him an asset in the final third. This has seen him record the highest number of assists by a defender in a single season.

Wan-Bissaka is not effective moving forward. When you compare the number of chances created, Alexander-Arnold’s tally trumps Wan-Bissaka once again. Speaking of passing range, Liverpool’s right-back has completed more forward passes, through balls, crosses and corners. When it comes to ball possession, the Scouser has been dispossessed lesser number of times as well.

Which of the two is astute in defence?

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At the other end of the pitch, it is close to impossible to match Wan-Bissaka’s defending statistics. He has made over a 100 tackles last season, a stat that was bettered only by Ricardo Pereira.

Wan-Bissaka has amassed over 50 tackles more than Alexander-Arnold. Many will argue that with the amount of ball possession that Liverpool have, the opportunity to tackle isn’t always present, but in all honesty, is not a strong argument.

In other defending stats, Wan-Bissaka has also won more aerial battles and has made lesser errors that lead to opposition scoring goals. This suggests that when it comes to defending, Wan-Bissaka is better than Trent.

Individual and team honours

One of the things that players are judged on is their individual and team honours. Trent Alexander-Arnold is way ahead of Wan-Bissaka when you compare their trophy cabinets. The Liverpool star has won the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup.

In an individual capacity, he has been a Ballon d’Or nominee and been a part of the Premier League team of the season and UEFA Champions League team of the season.

The Final Verdict

• Tactical Awareness – Trent Alexander-Arnold
• Attacking prowess – Trent Alexander-Arnold
• Astute in defence – Aaron Wan-Bissaka
• Individual and team Honours – Trent Alexander-Arnold

It’s a clear win for Trent, 3:1. Also, let us be honest if you had to choose between the two in a football line-up, you’d go with Alexander-Arnold. He presents more goal scoring opportunities and is still young enough to work on his defending.

So, if you ask us, which of the two is better, there is just one right answer, Trent Alexander-Arnold (corner taken quickly)!