How a clash with Leeds started Alexander-Arnold's assist haul

Leeds United’s last visit to Anfield. A League Cup tie in November 2016. The right-back’s second appearance for his boyhood club.

But it’s another career statistic from that night that prompts a grin to form as we speak to the No.66 ahead of Saturday’s Premier League opener against the Yorkshire side.

“That was my first ever assist for Liverpool, so I remember that quite well!” Alexander-Arnold, who teed up Divock Origi for the opener in a 2-0 win, told Liverpoolfc.com.

“It was a good night. Obviously Ben Woodburn got on the scoresheet as well, as Liverpool’s youngest scorer, so it was a good night for the young players and it’s a night I’ll never forget.

“I’ve got fond memories of playing against Leeds, I made my England debut at Elland Road as well. It’s going to be a good game on Saturday, I’m sure.”

Almost four years on, Leeds make the trip to L4 tomorrow evening as a newly-promoted Premier League club, with Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa at the helm.

It’s the second successive season that the Reds have begun by hosting the previous campaign’s Championship winners, following a 4-1 victory over Norwich City in 2019.

“There’s always that little bit of not knowing what you’re going to get,” Alexander-Arnold assessed.

“Obviously you watch the videos and analysis and you watch their games, but it’s different playing against the team. What you see and what you actually play against is always a little bit different.

“We know it’s going to be an intense game, they’re going to be up for it and highly motivated. Obviously their players and manager are an unbelievable team. It’s going to be a tough test for us, but I’m sure we’ll be well prepared for it.”

• Liverpool v Leeds United: Team news

Ahead of the 2020-21 kick-off, Jürgen Klopp has spoken of the intent to ‘attack’ this season’s Premier League title, rather than ‘defend’ Liverpool’s status as champions.

And Alexander-Arnold concurred that there will be no change in the players’ mindset, no diversion from the focus on winning as frequently as possible.

“We just need to do what we’ve been doing over the last few years, we can’t try to change our mentality because we’ve won things,” said the England international, who was named PFA Young Player of the Year this week.

“We need to keep our mentality that any team can beat us if we’re not at 100 per cent – that’s the way the Premier League works, that’s the way the Champions League works and cup competitions.

“It’s football, it’s full of upsets, you see upsets every week in the Premier League. I’m sure this weekend there’s going to be an upset somewhere, if not a few. So, we’re prepared for that.

“We know if we’re at 100 per cent we’ve got a good chance of winning games – that’s the mentality we’ve had over the last few years.

“It’s straightforward for us – it’s about winning trophies. We want to be the best team, we want to be the team that wins trophies, we want to be someone who is very difficult to play against and can win games in many ways.

“So, that’s something we look to; we know we need to improve, we’ve got places where we can improve. We need to adapt and evolve and try to make sure we hit the levels we hit over the last two or three years. I’m sure we’ll be in a good position if we do that.”

Alexander-Arnold has set stunning new benchmarks for assists by a defender in each of the past two Premier League campaigns.

After creating 12 goals for his teammates in 2018-19, the 21-year-old served up another 13 last term while also chipping in with four strikes of his own.

So, has he set any personal targets ahead of Saturday’s start?

“I just try to make sure I’m in and around the same levels as I hit last season, if not better,” Alexander-Arnold replied. “If I do that, it means me and the team are doing well, I’m able to create goals and chances for the team. We’ve got the attackers that can put them away.

“If I’m doing that, it means the team are doing well as well. It’s a good sign. It works hand in hand.”