OPINION
Laura Woods raved about Liverpool flyer Trent Alexander-Arnold and compared him to Crystal Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka who is reportedly on his way to Manchester United.
The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that Man United had agreed a £50million deal with Palace in order to sign the 21-year-old right back and this led Woods to compare him with Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold.
“When I look at Trent Alexander-Arnold, I think that Wan-Bissaka leaving Crystal Palace to a club like Manchester United, you hope it has a similar effect as to what has happened,” said Woods on talkSPORT (6:09am, Thursday, June 27th).
“I know Trent was born and bred, a Liverpool boy, but the development under Jurgen Klopp…Jurgen has to be giving him such a lot of credit for that.
“As he is 20-years-old, he is younger than Wan-Bissaka and he has already been in two Champions League finals and won one of them, his record for assists has been ridiculous all season, he has nailed down a starting place.
“Could this be the level that Wan-Bissaka gets to? And he’s only starting…”
While Liverpool fans will likely hope Woods’ wish for Wan-Bissaka to be able to replicate Alexander-Arnold’s success while at Old Trafford doesn’t come true, the rest of her remarks will have them feeling smug about how good the 20-year-old Reds flyer is.
Woods clearly thinks Alexander-Arnold is ahead of Wan-Bissaka, despite being younger, when it comes to his development and giving that Man United are willing to make the Palace defender their fifth-most expensive signing in their history, that highlights how good he is.
Also, the fact that Manchester United are signing a player, who in Woods’ opinion, has some catching up to do on his Liverpool equivalent; then that will be appreciated by many Reds fans given the rivalry between the two clubs.
However, Liverpool fans will also feel smug about Woods’ comparison of the two players as it’s hard to argue with her ranking Alexander-Arnold ahead of Wan-Bissaka at this stage.
For example, just comparing their 2018/19 campaigns in the Premier League on WhoScored, the Reds player comes up trumps in nearly every category.
Alexander-Arnold ended his season with nine more assists and one more goal than Wan-Bissaka, despite playing 668 minutes less, and had a higher average match rating.
The 20-year-old Liverpool defender also averaged more shots per game, had a better pass success percentage with 77.5% and had a better disciplinary record by picking up one less yellow card and one less red card.
While Wan-Bissaka racked up more Man of the Match awards, that’s more a reflection of how it’s harder to win one when impressing for Liverpool as it’s likely his teammates are wowing as well.
Also aside from being more impressive in his latest league campaign, it’s worth noting Alexander-Arnold generally has more Premier League experience having appeared in the division nine more times and has vast experience in the Champions League, unlike the Palace defender who has never played in the competition.
