As the Liverpool star passes Luis Suárez, Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to be a dangerous menace.
Throughout his Liverpool career, Alexander-Arnold has established himself as one of the finest free-kick takers in the Premier League.
Fulham was just the most recent casualty of his skill.
Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Fulham on Sunday gave them the best possible start to a demanding week.
It even scored a few goals during open play after going four games without doing so.
However, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s superb free kick gave the Reds the lead.
Harvey Elliott had hit the Fulham wall with a shoddy attempt from a similar distance four minutes prior.
The youthful midfielder was given a lesson in technique by the Liverpool right-back, who curled a fantastic attempt into Bernd Leno’s goal’s upper corner.
According to FBRef, an opportunity was worth 0.06 predicted goals; however, the post-shot model increased its value to 0.56.
With his accurate finish, Alexander-Arnold changed the odds from a one-in-16 chance to one in his favour.
The No. 66 also overtook a few notable figures from Liverpool’s history.
With this goal, Alexander-Arnold surpassed his tally of assists from other free-kicks as he scored his sixth goal directly from a free-kick in the Premier League.
Although it may seem like he has scored more, some people believe Mohamed Salah touched the ball to alter the angle before the shot was made.
The best example is a goal scored at Stamford Bridge in 2019 versus Chelsea.
He also scored one at Anfield against Fulham earlier in the season, although he was given credit for an own goal since the ball went in off Leno.
Trent will not become the competition’s top scorer of this kind of goal at a rate of fewer than one each season.
David Beckham scored eighteen goals in this manner for Manchester United, leaving James Ward-Prowse of West Ham just one goal behind and in the running to unseat him.
But eventually, Alexander-Arnold ought to emerge as Liverpool’s best direct free-kick converter.
Jamie Redknapp scored eight goals for the Reds, while Steven Gerrard scored seven, according to Opta Analyst.
The current right-back overtook South American duo Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suárez, who have scored five goals for Liverpool from free kicks, with his goal at Craven Cottage.
Additionally, given his hit rate, Alexander-Arnold ought to accept any direct free kick offered by the Reds when the angle is right.
The top nine players in Europe’s top five leagues for this kind of goal during the preceding ten years were listed in a table released by Opta in December 2023.
Only four of them were able to outperform Trent’s 10.3% conversion rate; not one of them included top scorer Lionel Messi, who has scored an absurd 32 goals.
More precise data supports the claim. Since the summer of 2017, nine players have attempted at least 40 direct free-kicks in the Premier League, according to Fantasy Football Scout.
Only Ward-Prowse (112%) can surpass the 47.1% increase in standard xG that Alexander-Arnold’s placement has brought to the post-shot model.
The Liverpool player is now ahead of players like Marcus Rashford (35.2%) and Kevin De Bruyne (41.6%), while the projected goal total has actually decreased by 25.3% as a result of Bruno Fernandes’ flawless free-kick finishing.