Reece James V Trent Alexander Arnold: Who Is The Better Player? We Look At The Numbers

With Reece James having had a superb start to the season for Chelsea, it has led to more discussions about whether he is superior to Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.

To be fair, the two are quite different in terms of their style of play. James uses his physicality and speed, while Trent’s key strengths are his passing range and crossing ability.

Considering England manager Gareth Southgate does seem to favour James, though, we wanted to find out whether he is justified in picking him ahead of Alexander-Arnold by looking at the stats.

Press the next page as we compare James and Alexander-Arnold’s performances in the Premier League this campaign (stats via FBREF.com)

Completed Crosses Into The Penalty Area

You would think that Alexander-Arnold would have this area sewn up but, according to the numbers this season, James has been slightly more accurate in delivering balls into the 18-yard box

James is averaging 0.59 completed crosses per 90 minutes in the Premier League, compared to Trent’s 0.57. They are, though, pretty close in terms of crosses finding their target.

Winner – James

Tackles

It is pretty much assumed that James is a better defender than Alexander-Arnold and this is certainly borne out, if we look at tackles made and tackles won in isolation.

The Chelsea wingback is making 1.96 tackles per 90 (winning 1.37 per 90) while the Liverpool fullback is averaging 1.72 tackles made (with 1.26 being successful per 90).

Winner – James

Interceptions and Recoveries

While James is a more proficient tackler, it is a different story on another defensive metric. Interceptions-wise, Alexander-Arnold (2.87 per 90 minutes) is way ahead of the Chelsea wingback (0.78).

In terms of loose ball recoveries, it is the same outcome with Trent recovering 8.62 per 90 to James’ 7.45. Some of that is likely down to them playing in slightly different positions, with James playing further up the pitch.

Winner – Alexander-Arnold

Goals And Assists

This is a clear win for the Chelsea defender, with his four goals and three assists meaning he is averaging 1.38 goal involvements per 90 minutes currently, compared to Alexander-Arnold’s 0.57.

The gap is, however, likely to close between now and the end of the season with their non-penalty expected goals and expected assists just 0.03 per 90 apart currently.

Winner – James

Key Passes

While Trent may not have anywhere near the same amount of goal involvements as James, he is still creating more shots than the Chelsea right-back.

The Liverpool star is currently averaging 3.33 key passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League this campaign, compared to James’ 2.94.

Winner – Alexander-Arnold

In summary, James is just about edging things in terms of the raw stats. He is providing more goals and assists than Alexander-Arnold, whilst also delivering more accurate crosses and winning more tackles.

Alexander-Arnold is still creating more shooting opportunities for his teammates, while he is well ahead in terms of making interceptions and ball recoveries.

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