Liverpool: Four takeaways from a 4-2 win over Manchester United

Trent Alexander-Arnold shows his quality

Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the best players in the Premier League, and he came into this fixture with both an important matchup against Luke Shaw (and Paul Pogba) and an opportunity to be the key player for Liverpool.

Heading into this match, Alexander-Arnold’s chance-creation and penchant for early crosses and through balls into dangerous central regions of the pitch were always going to be highlighted. The England international completed under 70 percent of his 51 pass attempts, according to WhoScored.com, yet he was arguably the best player on the pitch for a team that scored four goals.

How is that? Because pass completion percentage tells you very little. It does implicitly clue you into one thing, though. That Alexander-Arnold was attempting difficult, chance-creating passes. He was not passing it around for the sake of passing it around, which, as you know, is something Liverpool tend to want to avoid.

“TAA” led the way with five key passes and had an assist. He completed two of three through ball attempts and two of five crosses. Defensively, he was sharp, rising to the occasion against one of the Premier League’s top left backs in Shaw, as well as the classy Pogba.