Dani Carvajal is arguably one of the best right-backs world football has ever seen.
In a career lasting over a decade, he has won 28 major trophies, including 6 Champions League titles, 4 Spanish league titles, and a European Championship, earning respect and high praise, but he is approaching his 33rd birthday, and Real Madrid looking to the future have been linked with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Whilst there were whispers of the Scouser’s liking of Madrid over the summer, the Spaniard’s devastating ACL rupture, as well reported delays to Trent’s contract extension, has only added to the transfer rumour mill.
So, how do the two right-backs compare, and what would the Liverpool favourite bring to an already talent-stacked side?
PASSING
Trent Alexander-Arnold has established himself as one of the best passers in the world- both from set-pieces, and from live ball situations.
The only area in which Carvajal is ahead, is in passing completion rate, but this can explained by the nature of the passes. The Liverpudlian almost doubles his counterpart for progressive passes per 90.
GOAL CREATING ACTIONS
This passing data is strongly added to by ‘goal creating actions’ data.
This is a feature of his game that would benefit the Spaniards. Alexander-Arnold’s shot-creating output dwarfs the 32-year-old in comparison.
DEFENSIVE OUTPUT
One area the Englishman has received a lot of criticism for in recent years is his defensive frailty.
The Spaniard may not be the most involved going forward, but his defensive contribution is outstanding, and sheds light on the net effect of Trent’s front-footed approach.
This is especially highlighted by his challenges lost per 90, which raises one big question- is his attacking output worth the risk of being more open at the back?
IS IT ALL WORTH IT?
So, what really is the overall effect of Trent Alexander-Arnold on Liverpool?
(The last column represents a measure of the net expected goals minus expected goals against, from when Trent and Carvajal are playing, compared to when they are not- the higher number the better)
Surprisingly, the net xG (expected goal) difference of Trent on Liverpool, compared to when he doesn’t play, is actually -0.38 xG, which means they concede more defensively than they create going forward when he does play.
Ultimately, the numbers are quite damming for the Brit, but there can be no doubt that Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid will have a plan, should they push to bring Alexander-Arnold to the Santiago Bernabéu, and it may be a scary result for the rest of European football.
