Garth Crooks believes Trent Alexander-Arnold is improving by the game after another superb performance for Liverpool in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Brighton.
The BBC Sport pundit named the teenager in his Premier League Team of the Week, praising him for producing the ‘moment of the match’.
Liverpool’s marauding right-back drew on his midfield roots with a stunning volleyed pass, cutting through the ball to find the feet of Mohamed Salah.
The boyhood Red has picked up where he left off last season, replacing the possibility of fatigue after his involvement at the World Cup with a refreshing desire to play every minute of his team’s campaign.
Discussing the defender’s display for BBC Sport, Crooks said: “This lad gets better every time I see him. Against a dogged Brighton, the Liverpool and England full-back showed a maturity well beyond his years.
Alexander-Arnold is a defender who loves to play forward, not square or back, because he’s not afraid and has the talent to do it. But the moment of the match for me was the 40-yard pass to the feet of Salah on the other side of the pitch. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. What a ball.”
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The right-back’s consistency has proven a major obstacle for Nathaniel Clyne in his bid to earn a place back in Jurgen Klopp’s starting lineup.
He looks an immovable object on the right of Liverpool’s still-unbeaten defence this season, teasing a formidable long-term cohesion with the adjacent Joe Gomez.
In a plethora of early early season tests for Alexander-Arnold, it was perhaps the assurance and confidence he oozed against Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha that echoed his talent.
Greater challenges will come as the campaign progresses, but Liverpool’s starlet will feel he is capable of halting any winger in the league.