Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) or Andrew Robertson (£7.0m): who makes your Fantasy Premier League (FPL) squad in Gameweek 1?
Alexander-Arnold was the top-scoring defender in 2021/22, with 208 points placing him third in the overall player standings. However, since the turn of the year, Robertson outscored his team-mate by a whopping 37 points and is also available for half a million less.
Is Alexander-Arnold a no-brainer, then? Can Robertson compete with his fellow full-back? And is double Liverpool defence worth considering?
In this, our latest Fantasy Football Scout Premium Members article, we’ll attempt to answer those questions.
ALEXANDER-ARNOLD v ROBERTSON: FPL RETURNS 2021/22
Across the course of 2021/22, Alexander-Arnold finished 22 points ahead of his Scottish colleague, producing eight double-digit hauls, two goals, 12 assists, 18 clean sheets and 32 bonus points.
Meanwhile, Robertson racked up 186 points, courtesy of six double-digit hauls, three goals, 11 assists, 17 clean sheets and 23 bonus points.
Robertson mustered 6.4 points per match as he appeared in 32 Premier League fixtures, while Alexander-Arnold produced 6.5 points per match across 34 outings.
Robertson’s second double-digit haul arrived in Gameweek 22, when Alexander-Arnold already had six to his name, which drives home the fact that the Scotsman was the more viable Fantasy asset to own in the second half of 2021/22. Indeed, Robertson only blanked in three of his last 21 starts in a run that went all the way back to Gameweek 13.
However, an advantage for Alexander-Arnold appears once we start looking at the underlying statistics.
ALEXANDER-ARNOLD v ROBERTSON: ASSIST POTENTIAL
Alexander-Arnold grabbed 12 assists in 2021/22 and retains his title as the most creative Liverpool asset, leading the way among teammates for chances created (90) and big chances created (18).
And he could arguably have had more: his expected assists (xA) tally was 13.01, one higher than the actual assist total he ended up with.
Unsurprisingly, his overall xA figure was by far the best in the Premier League last season:
While Alexander-Arnold registered an impressive 12 assists in 2021/22, Robertson came very close to his colleague, posting a total of 11.
However, Robertson trails Alexander-Arnold by a considerable margin when we look at chances created (55), big chances created (nine) and xA (5.52).
Even from Gameweek 13 onwards – the start of Robertson’s fine run of form – Alexander-Arnold created 2.55 chances per 90 minutes, compared to the left-backs 2.14, while he was also ahead for big chances created per 90 minutes (0.45 to 0.39) and xA per 90 minutes (0.37 to 0.22).
