Ian Wright praised Trent Alexander-Arnold for ‘pulling strings’ during Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday at Anfield.
The Arsenal legend suggested that Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side couldn’t handle the Liverpool right-back and how they were giving him too much space on the ball.
Inside the opening minutes, Trent Alexander-Arnold got an assist to his name, before his outstanding ball over the top of Villa’s defence found Mohamed Salah, who fed Darwin Nunez, as his shot forced Matty Cash to put the ball into his own net.
Wright thinks that Villa weren’t closing down players like Alexander-Arnold enough and they paid for it, as he told Premier League Productions (03/09/23 at 4:00 pm).
Given the manner in which Liverpool beat Newcastle last time out, then there was only going to be one outcome to yesterday’s game, even though Villa were scoring for fun.
That win at St James’ Park was mode changing and the Reds showcased it, with Alexander-Arnold hitting the headlines for the right reasons this time.
“Well, he did pull strings,” said Wright. “When you look at this situation, it’s the kind of situation I am sure Liverpool would have seen, looking at Villa and looking at their high line and what they are going to do.
“You would have loved to have seen Darwin Nunez score that one, but look at that space. If you are Unai Emery, you are saying ‘if this situation happens, then get closer to him because the line we are going to have is high’.
“You could see the three Liverpool players, they are all ready in their blocks ready to go and, before you know it, Trent Alexander-Arnold having that much time, it’s space for players to run into.”
All-round Alexander-Arnold display
From a defensive aspect, Alexander-Arnold was outstanding for Liverpool, as well as his typical attacking display.
No-one has ever questioned the attacking side of the £180k-a-week star’s (Spotrac) game, it’s what he does going back that is always questioned.
But he was on point against a free-scoring Villa side who, for only the third time under Emery, failed to score in the Premier League.
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