Comparing Alexander-Arnold’s assists record to the PL’s best ever creators

Planet Football • 28 Feb 2020

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is creating more chances from right-back than most of the Premier League’s best attacking players – or, indeed, the players with the most ever assists in the competition.

Alexander-Arnold has reached 25 assists in 82 league appearances for Liverpool and that is an assist every 3.2 games on average.

We’ve compared his assist-per-game record with the top nine players with the most assists in Premier League history.

9. David Beckham

Alexander-Arnold’s crosses are reminiscent of Beckham at Manchester United, and he’s actually setting up goals on a slightly more regular basis.

Beckham provided 80 assists in 265 league games for United between 1994 and 2003 at a rate of one every 3.3 games.

Danny Murphy on Trent Alexander-Arnold: "Trent Alexander-Arnold, for me, is as good a crosser of the ball I’ve seen since David Beckham. His crossing is already as good as Beckham, definitely." pic.twitter.com/FmuXMzSYpY

— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) August 13, 2019

8. James Milner

Sometimes, it can be easy to forget Milner isn’t just the reliable, consistent, does a job anywhere type. He’s also a bloody good player.

Indeed, he has 84 assists from 533 appearances, at a rate of one every 6.3 games.

7. David Silva

Since joining Manchester City in 2010, Silva has become one of the best playmakers in the world

The midfielder is set to leave the club at the end of the season, but he has got 90 assists in 301 league games so far, at a rate of one every 3.3 games, again almost identical to that of Alexander-Arnold.

6. Steven Gerrard

Gerrard pulled the strings in midfield during his 504 league games Liverpool and set up 92 goals in that time, but that works out at an assist every 5.4 games. In other words, Alexander-Arnold is even more creative than one of the best central midfielders of the modern era.

Steven Gerrard to Fernando Torres: “When I got the ball in midfield, I knew you would be running behind the opponent’s defence and that I could find you straight away. You changed all my bad passes into good ones and I got plenty of assists!”pic.twitter.com/tN0FlYNrBq

— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) August 23, 2019

5. Dennis Bergkamp

Bergkamp is regarded as one of the most creative players to ever grace the Premier League.

The Dutchman made 94 assists during his 315 league appearances for Arsenal and that works out at one every 3.3 games, once again marginally worse than Alexander-Arnold’s rate.

4. Frank Lampard

Lampard got 102 assists in his Premier League career, managing one every 5.9 games. Not even close.

3. Wayne Rooney

Rooney was renowned for his goalscoring exploits during his career in the Premier League, but the striker also set up plenty of goals for his team-mates.

The striker got one more assist than Lampard in his 491 league appearances between 2002 and 2018, at a rate of one every 4.7 games.

2. Cesc Fabregas

Fabregas was even younger than Alexander-Arnold when he got to 25 league assists, reaching that tally at 20 years and 134 days.

Overall, he recorded 111 Premier League assists during his 350 appearances for Arsenal and Chelsea, at a rate of one every 3.1 games, making him the only player on this list to set up goals on a more regular basis than Alexander-Arnold.

25 – Only Cesc Fabregas (20y 134d) and Wayne Rooney (21y 63d) have reached 25 Premier League assists at a younger age than Trent Alexander-Arnold (21y 140d). Special. pic.twitter.com/l4teO9SWnf

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 24, 2020