From a teenage rookie and the new poster boy from Liverpool’s academy to a Premier League star and a Champions League winner, Trent Alexander Arnold’s meteoric rise at Anfield has been quite an awe-inspiring tale.
Alexander-Arnold, who represented England at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia last summer, has progressed by leaps and bounds under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp to evolve into one of the best, if not the best, right-back in the Premier League.
Along with left-back Andrew Robertson, the starlet formed a part of Liverpool’s devastating full-back pairing that ripped many an opposition to pieces in the Premier League last season, whilst also playing a key role in the Reds’ Champions League triumph.
The 21-year-old, who racked up as many as 12 assists for Liverpool in the Premier League last season, has continued from where he had signed off last season.
The youngster has already scored once and assisted twice in 10 league outings for the current pace-setters in the division and he certainly looks well on course for another incredible tally this term.
Meanwhile, Ricardo Pereira, who was also statistically amongst the best right-backs in the Premier League with a tally of 2 goals and 6 assists last season, has once again hit the ground running this term for Leicester City.
Plying his trade for a club outside of the established top-six in the division, the Portuguese international hasn’t always been in the limelight like Alexander-Arnold, but few would dare to argue that the 26-year-old has matched the Liverpool star toe-to-toe in all aspects of the game.
Currently placed 3rd in the standings, Leicester City are throwing caution to the winds in their pursuit of a top-six finish under Brendan Rodgers and while the likes of Jamie Vardy, Ayoze Perez, James Maddison and Youri Tielemans have made the headlines more often than not, Pereira has been the unheralded star behind the Foxes’ success.
As per whoscored, Ricardo Pereira averages a staggering 4.7 tackles, 1.8 interceptions and 2.6 clearances per game in the Premier League this term, numbers which are an upgrade on Alexander-Arnold’s average of 1.1 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 2.6 clearances.
Those differences certainly arise to a large extent from the stylistic differences between the two sides and Liverpool’s obvious dominance in the final third, however, the fact that Pereira has outperformed Alexander-Arnold becomes evident when the tackle success percentage of the two players are compared.
Pereira has successfully completed 47 of his attempted 66 tackles, which amounts to a success rate of 71.21%, while Alexander-Arnold has only managed to come away with the upper hand in 11 out of his attempted 22 challenges, amounting to a success rate of just 50.
Alexander-Arnold’s exceptional crossing ability from the flanks has seen him establish himself as one of Liverpool’s key creative outlets and the numbers prove it. The 21-year-old’s average of 3.7 key passes per game puts him head and shoulders above Pereira, who averages just 1 key pass per game.
Pereira, though, edges comfortably ahead of the Liverpool starlet in terms of dribbling and aerial duels. The Portuguese international has won 22 of his attempted 38 dribbles so far, which comes down to a success rate of 57.89%, way better than Alexander-Arnold’s 5 out of 19 dribbles won.
Blessed with an above-average aerial ability for a full-back, the 26-year-old has come out on top on 13 occasions out of a possible 30 while the England international has only managed to win 4 out of 12 duels in the air.
To conclude, numbers are only a part of the picture and given that Pereira and Alexander-Arnold are two contrasting full-backs (in terms of style) playing in two different teams with totally different philosophies, it is really hard to come to an outright conclusion over who has been the better performer.
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However, carefully weighing up the statistics and all other factors, one does get the feeling that Ricardo Pereira is some way ahead of Alexander-Arnold this season if an individual duel between the two players is to be considered.