Liverpool KNOW the solution to Trent Alexander-Arnold problem

Liverpool have enjoyed a spectacular start to the season and are thriving under Arne Slot, but there are still three big unanswered questions at the club.

No matter how well the Reds perform on the pitch, every other question at every single press conference seems to in some way reference the future of three of Liverpool’s biggest stars.

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Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all out of contract at the end of the season, and as it stands all three will be leaving Anfield for free in June.

Mohamed Salah is probably the hardest of the trio to replace, he has been Liverpool’s top performer in terms of output every season since his arrival at the club, and there is a lack of world-class right sided forwards available on the market, meaning any replacement will be very very expensive.

Virgil van Dijk would also be extremely difficult to replace. Although the defender is technically reaching the point of his career where he should start to decline, he still looks like the best defender in the world week in week out, so again any worthy replacement is going to cost a fortune.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is an outlier in this situation, however. Although there is no one in world football who can do what he does with the ball in terms of passing, there may already be a replacement ready at Liverpool who could step up and fill the hole that Trent’s departure would leave.

Conor Bradley: Liverpool’s ready-made replacement

Trent Alexander-Arnold is almost definitely the best right-back in the world but for most teams, Arne Slot’s Liverpool included, right-back is not as important a position as the front line or the central defenders.

Trent’s output for this Liverpool side over the past seven years cannot and should not be understated, but his understudy at Anfield may have what it takes to step up should Alexander-Arnold chose to call it quits in Merseyside.

Statistically Conor Bradley already offers good competition for Trent, especially when you look at the pair’s defensive numbers, but obviously he offers less in an attacking sense.

Bradley averages 4.6 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes across his Liverpool career, whilst Trent only averages 3.1. Interestingly, Bradley doesn’t just attempt more tackles but he also attempts them higher up the pitch.

20.6% of the tackles that Conor Bradley attempts are in the attacking third, compared to Trent who only attempts 12.4% of his tackles in the same area.

Trent has also only won 49.5% of his tackles compared to Bradley’s 58.1%, so these stats combined suggest that Bradley is likely to win you the ball further up the pitch, something that could prove useful for Liverpool.

Bradley is also superior in the air compared to his senior, winning 68.4% of his aerial duels compared to Trent’s 38.3%.

The attacking numbers

Although Bradley can put up a solid fight against Trent’s defensive numbers, can he offer even close to what Trent does going forward? The answer may surprise you.

Although Alexander-Arnold boasts an expected assists per 90 of 0.27, over double Bradley’s 0.13, the pair actually have similar goal and assist output across their Liverpool careers.

Trent still comes out the winner with 0.35 goals and assists per 90 across his careers, but Bradley already has 0.26 G+A per 90 in his career.

The drop off between the two isn’t quite as drastic here, and Bradley actually has a higher pass completion rate, 80.9% versus Trent’s 73.6%, although it is worth noting that Trent attempts considerably more long passes per 90 than his counterpart.

Another difference between the two is that Bradley is a lot more willing to dribble, averaging 3.1 attacking take on attempts per 90 compared to Trent’s 1.53.

Although Alexander-Arnold attempts less dribbles, he is successful more often, winning 52.3% of his take ons versus Bradley who only wins 45.2% of his.

This suggests that as well as Bradley winning you the ball more higher up the pitch, he may also lose you the ball more trying to dribble past opponents.

Can Conor Bradley be good enough to replace Trent?

Is Conor Bradley good enough to take Trent’s place in the team right now? No.

Can Conor Bradley be good enough to replace Trent in the long-term should he leave Anfield? Absolutely, yes.

Bradley is only 21-years-old and has plenty of time to develop under Arne Slot. The opportunity of consistent game time would boost that development even more.

With time and patience Bradley can become everything Liverpool need from their right-back and more, and he is already a Liverpool player.

Just because Liverpool have a worthy replacement already at the club doesn’t mean that no priority should be given to Alexander-Arnold’s contract at all, but it does make his renewal different to Salah and Van Dijk’s.

The Reds wouldn’t be put in the impossible situation of trying to sign a world class replacement after losing a player for free if Trent where to leave, a grim prospect they do face if Salah or Virgil do go, as they already have Bradley at the club.

This takes the pressure off a little for Liverpool in what is a very difficult situation, and as much as all Kopites will want Alexander-Arnold to extend his stay at Anfield, it may not be the end of the world if he does decide to take his career in a different direction.

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