Liverpool defeated Sheffield United 2-0 on Wednesday night after the re-appointment of former manager Chris Wilder to close in on Premier League leaders Arsenal by two points.
Despite having taken the lead through Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool were frustrated for long periods of the game, with Dominik Szoboszlai’s goal adding late gloss to a middling performance.
Van Dijk volleyed in his first goal of the season from a trademark Alexander-Arnold corner on 37 minutes.
A VAR check cleared the goal and set Liverpool on course for victory, while also seeing Alexander-Arnold notch his 56th Premier League assist.
In turn, the 25-year-old surpassed former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes in the all-time Premier League assist rankings, doing so in 288 fewer games than the Old Trafford legend.
He is currently level with Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson, and should either claim another assist they would set the Premier League record for a defender.
However, Alexander-Arnold still has some way to go to surpass Steven Gerrard, who recorded 92 Premier League assists, which some quarters may claim settles the long-standing debate over who is better between Scholes and the Liverpool icon.
After the Sheffield United game, Klopp praised his side’s mature performance.
The German said, via Sky Sports: “I’m really pleased with the result.
“I’m really pleased with a lot of aspects of the game. I would call it a mature performance, aside from a few moments when we gave the ball away in areas we should not.
“If you did not see the game you heard it because we calmed an atmosphere that was ready to go. That was super important.
“I don’t want to be overly critical. I know we can play better football but at this time of the year you play, hopefully win, recover, play again.
“It would be extremely cool if we could have scored the second goal earlier. We tried to create without opening up too much.
“We didn’t create the clear-cut chances and it’s sometimes like that. You need to use the set pieces, defend their set pieces. There’s no game without tricky moments if you don’t put it to bed.
“Who deserved to win that game? It was us. We have to fight through this [period] like everybody else. When you get a good feeling and results help you don’t feel the intensity so much.”
