Liverpool's decline has accelerated sharply due to... Alexander-Arnold's error?

22/10/2025 07:28:00 SportScoop

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s transfer to Spain has altered Liverpool’s playing style and is among the reasons for the club’s decline.

Last year at this time, Liverpool faced off-field issues regarding Trent Alexander-Arnold. With his right-back contract nearing expiration and Real Madrid pursuing him, it was evident he would leave Anfield.

Salah’s decline is linked to the absence of Alexander-Arnold.

One year later, Liverpool is facing another issue related to Trent Alexander-Arnold. This time the problem is on the pitch, as Liverpool lost four consecutive matches across all competitions following the recent defeat to Manchester United at Anfield last Sunday.

Arne Slot clearly misses his former right-back, whose departure led to changes in Liverpool’s playing style. So far, these changes have been disadvantageous.

The most worrying consequence of Alexander-Arnold’s move to Real Madrid is the knock-on effect on Mohamed Salah. By usual standards, Salah has started the season extremely poorly. In the Premier League, his form has reached its lowest point in many years. This season, he has had less influence on matches than at any other time during his Liverpool career. On average, Salah has only 39 touches per game, the lowest since joining Liverpool.

Salah also averages just 1.8 shots per game, down from 3.2 last season, and his touches inside the opponent’s penalty area have dropped significantly. This season, he averages 5.2 touches inside the box per game compared to 9.5 last season.

As a result, Salah no longer contributes as many goals and assists as last season, when he was a key player in Liverpool’s title race. So far, he has scored only 2 goals in 8 Premier League matches, compared to 29 goals in 38 games in the 2024-25 season.

Age may be a factor, as Salah is now 33. However, this sudden decline points to a bigger issue: Alexander-Arnold’s departure. Opta data shows that last season Alexander-Arnold made 147 through passes to Salah in the Premier League, the highest number for any pair in the league (the next pair being Josko Gvardiol of Man City with 108 passes to Jeremy Doku). Alexander-Arnold also created 14 chances for Salah last season. Meanwhile, no current Liverpool right-back has created even one chance for the Egyptian forward.

Alexander-Arnold’s exit may also result in teams marking Salah more tightly. His dribbling success rate has dropped to just 10% this season from 42% last season, indicating he is being closely marked.

Alexander-Arnold’s departure is the reason behind Mohamed Salah’s decline.

Liverpool has changed its playing style but it has yet to be effective.

Out of Salah’s 401 games for Liverpool before this season, he played alongside Alexander-Arnold on the right flank in 319 matches. These two players had a deep understanding of each other’s movements, having built a strong partnership over many years.

However, the underlying issue is that Liverpool did not sign a player with a style similar to Alexander-Arnold during the summer transfer window (such a player might not exist). Instead, they signed Jeremie Frimpong, who tends to make runs rather than pass, and continued to give chances to Conor Bradley. The main creative role for Liverpool now falls to attacking midfielders Florian Wirtz or Dominik Szoboszlai rather than the right-back.

The difference between Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool’s current right-backs is substantial. In terms of passing ability and vision, Bradley and Frimpong cannot compare to Alexander-Arnold. Stylistically, they are completely different.

Last season, Alexander-Arnold averaged 7.7 long passes per Premier League game. This season, Bradley averages only 3.3, while Frimpong has yet to complete a single long pass. Alexander-Arnold also averaged 7.9 passes into the final third per game, compared to 4.6 for Bradley and 2 for Frimpong.

Compared to Alexander-Arnold, who always sought quick passes to attackers, Bradley and Frimpong prefer to hold the ball and dribble forward. Both current Liverpool right-backs average 4 dribbles per game (carrying the ball at least 10 meters towards the goal), compared to 1.9 by Alexander-Arnold last season.

This stylistic difference explains why Slot has sometimes used Szoboszlai as a right-back this season. Szoboszlai’s passing ability makes him the closest player to Alexander-Arnold in Liverpool’s squad.

Alexander-Arnold’s departure also coincides with Liverpool dribbling more as a team this season, but this has yet to bring benefits.

One of Alexander-Arnold’s greatest strengths was his ability to take set pieces. During his time at Liverpool, he was often the primary taker, with 21 of his 86 assists coming from corners or free kicks.

In the 2024/25 season, Liverpool scored an average of 0.5 goals per game from set pieces in the Premier League, but this dropped to 0.25 goals per game this year. Last season, Liverpool scored 8 goals from corners; this season, they have yet to score any.

Manager Arne Slot faces many major tactical challenges. Adapting without Alexander-Arnold is probably the biggest among them.

Over the last three Premier League seasons, Mohamed Salah’s performance has fluctuated noticeably. In 2023/24, he averaged 0.99 goals and assists per 90 minutes, took 3.79 shots, had 8.55 touches inside the box, and a dribble success rate of 35.1%. In 2024/25, Salah surged back with 1.25 goals and assists per 90 minutes, averaging 3.23 shots, 9.49 touches inside the box, and a 42.3% dribble success rate. However, in the 2025/26 season, his stats have sharply declined,h, aving only 0.51 goals and assists per 90 minutes, 1.77 shots, and 5.19 touches inside the box.

Son Tung

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