Liverpool's Robertson and Alexander-Arnold engage in Twitter banter

When Philippe Coutinho departed for Barcelona for a reported fee of £142 million in January 2018, it left a hole in Liverpool's squad. The diminutive Brazilian was known to conjure up magical moments of long-range strikes that curved to beat even the best of goalkeepers, none more so than Manchester United's David de Gea. His creativity also got Liverpool out of situations when teams were prone to sit back against Liverpool's devastating strikeforce. Little did they know all that creativity would be replaced by arguably the best full-back duo in club football right now. 

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Andy Robertson vs Trent-Alexander Arnold: Liverpool's friendly fullback rivalry

Andy Robertson and Trent-Alexander Arnold have been having an assist battle of late since last season. Trent Alexander-Arnold entered the Guinness Book of World Records for making the most Premier League assists by a defender (12) in the 2018-19 season. Andy Robertson, meanwhile, was just one behind, with 11 assists that season. By the looks of it, they have picked up right where they left off, as evident by Robertson providing the assist for Mohamed Salah's goal against Manchester City last weekend. That was Robertson's fourth assist this season, while Trent Alexander-Arnold is just one behind on three. 

After Coutinho's departure, Jurgen Klopp turned his attention to then-Lyon midfielder Nabil Fekir. Fekir fit the profile of a hard-working, skilful playmaker and could play anywhere across Liverpool's front three, or occupy the #10 spot behind Roberto Firmino. When that move fell through, many questioned Liverpool's decision to end their pursuit of filling the Coutinho-shaped hole in the squad.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson cost Liverpool a combined £8 million. Their creativity, however, is priceless. Between them, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have as many league assists since the start of the 2018/19 season as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele combined (30). To put this number into perspective, Lionel Messi and Manchester City's David Silva have a combined 29 assists since 2018-19 in their respective leagues.

The switch of play from right to left and vice versa has become a trademark move of the fullback duo. The almost telepathic understanding between the two was in full show when Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped a cross-field ball with his weaker foot. Robertson collected the ball from the right-back and within seconds the ball nestled in City's net when Robertson set up Mohamed Salah's goal to double Liverpool's lead.

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The healthy rivalry between the two has paid dividends for Jurgen Klopp's team. Both Robertson and Alexander-Arnold are solid going forward, as well as defensively, but as Jose Mourinho pointed out during the Liverpool vs Man City preview, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum are also quick to cover for the fullback duo when they embark on their marauding runs down the flank. As long as Andy Robertson and Trent-Alexander Arnold remain fit, Liverpool should have no problems against teams that sit back against the league leaders. 

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