MY ACCOUNT
Trent Alexander-Arnold joked “they all count” after his wayward shot paved the way for Sadio Mane’s winning goal in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday.
The right-back chested down a pass and scuffed what appeared to be a shot from range, which Mane – narrowly onside – diverted past Lukasz Fabianski from close range.
That proved to be the only goal in a nervy victory for Liverpool – their seventh in a row in the Premier League as they moved to within three points of leaders Manchester City.
Alexander-Arnold’s assist was his 16th in all competitions this term, setting a new personal best after registering 15 in 2018-19 and again in 2019-20.
Those 16 assists are the second most of any player from clubs in Europe’s top five leagues in all competitions this season, behind only Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller (19).
While he may not have meant his latest assist, the England defender was pleased to play his part in a battling victory, having also helped clear a Pablo Fornals shot off the line.
“They all count,” Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports after team-mate Andy Robertson implied he was going for goal rather than attempting to pick out Mane in the box.
“I try to contribute as much as I can to the team. We all want to help win games for the team and I am happy to be able to continue.
“Both me and Andy tried to get forward when we had the chance, but to keep a clean sheet was our aim.
“We have been able to do that over the last few weeks. Being able to clear one off the line was great as it helped us keep that clean sheet.
“Look at the Burnley game when we won 1-0. It’s great to win by a big margin but these are the ones that matter. It doesn’t matter how you do it, you have to get the job done.”
Liverpool are on their best winning streak in the top flight since a run of 18 between October and February in their title-winning campaign two years ago.
The Reds were made to work hard for their latest victory, though, as top-four chasing West Ham wasted two big chances in the final 20 minutes to claim a point.
Robertson, making his 200th start for Liverpool on the opposite flank to Alexander-Arnold, has now challenged his team-mates to keep their momentum going.
“West Ham played a good game but we defended well, put bodies on the line and got the three points,” Robertson added to Sky Sports.
“Set-pieces have been a threat. It was never going to be easy but once we got the goal it was important to keep the clean sheet. Now we need more. We need to keep going.
“They are trying to get into European football so we had to help out our centre-backs and we were brave with it.”
