Trippier, James, Alexander-Arnold & Walker's stats in 2023/24 compared | OneFootball

It should come as no surprise that England custodian Gareth Southgate has somewhat of a headache when it comes to choosing a player to fill his right-back berth with Reece James, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker and Trent-Alexander Arnold all on hand to fill the highly-competitive spot.

It is, of course, a positive conundrum that Southgate and his backroom staff find themselves in given the plethora of defensive talent they have at their disposal. With that very trick up his sleeve, the Three Lions boss has the ability to chop and change his starting right-back dependent on the opposition in front of them.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: Born to Play for Liverpool

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Alexander-Arnold, interestingly, has been used more as a midfielder in recent England games, with Southgate mimicking Jürgen Klopp’s inverted full-back role for the 24-year-old, which may free up a defensive spot in upcoming tournaments. That leads us poetically into Euro 2024. With the international tournament in Berlin, Germany just around the corner and only a certain number of spots typically used per position, Southgate has a problem, albeit a relatively exciting one, on his hands.

As such, we’ve used Squakwa’s comparison matrix to see how the quartet of English right-backs have fared this season in the 2023/24 Premier League campaign. Which player has made the most tackles per game? Who is the biggest attacking threat? And which player has recorded the highest passing success rate? Without further ado, let’s jump in and attempt to help Southgate make an informed decision, with the help of Squawka crunching the numbers. All statistics shown below are per 90 minutes. The leader of each category is in bold.

Walker and Trippier excel in their passing

Well, this one is shocking. Alexander-Arnold, who has been trusted by Klopp in the inverted full-back role, has always been praised for his pinpoint passing ability, but his statistics – according to Squawka – are bettered by his City and Newcastle counterparts, Walker and Trippier. Even Chelsea’s James has better passing statistics to show for.

For crossing accuracy, it is Trippier who reigns victorious in that department with a success rate of 34.23%, while Alexander-Arnold, who is the second-best, boasts a 28.3% success rate. The Newcastle man, who is often seen as the orchestrator for Eddie Howe, just edges Alexander-Arnold in terms of forward passes with his 30.1 – compared to Trent’s 27.4 – coming out on top.

In terms of passing - both normal and long – it is dominated by Pep Guardiola’s ever-reliable right-back, Walker, who completes 89.73% of his passes, while completing 61.97% of those that are considered to be long. The former statistic comes as little surprise given the possession-based approach Guardiola bases his game upon – his defenders are usually seen with ample time on the ball to pick out the correct pass.

That notion can also be considered an attributor to why Walker, statistically, loses the ball the least number of times per game, with a rate of 10.3. James follows closely behind with just 16.7 times, while Trippier and Alexander-Arnold boast worrying possession lost figures – 21.2 and 20.6, respectively.

Alexander-Arnold is the biggest goal threat

Admittedly, defenders are not best known for scoring goals. But such is the multi-faceted nature of defenders in the modern game, they are often tasked with finishing a chance or even creating one themselves.

On that note, Alexander-Arnold is statistically levels above the rest in terms of converting chances, with 0.2 goals per 90 minutes, compared to Trippier, James and Walker all failing to get on the scoresheet. Albeit relatively insignificant, it highlights the Liverpool-born star’s innate ability to charge forward and be promising in the final third. Unsurprisingly, he has also taken the most shots on target, while Trippier is still on 0. James and Walker have notched figures of 0.3 and 0.1, respectively.

Trippier takes the crown in terms of chance creation, however, but considering the license to roam forward and whip crosses in he is given by his management, that comes as little surprise. Per game, the former Tottenham Hotspur man creates 3.1 chances, while James, Alexander-Arnold and – especially – Walker can only dream of those numbers, plundering just 2.3, 2 and 1 themselves.

James and Walker are, in comparison to the other two, limited on an attacking front and so it’s not surprising to see their figures bettered by the beating heart of Newcastle, Trippier. Alexander-Arnold, on the other hand, is given the most authority to push further afield and be one of Klopp’s primary creators-in-chiefs – but the statistics show he is flailing in this department.

While Blues captain James may struggle on the attacking front compared to his compatriots, he certainly does not come up short from a defensive standpoint, having contested in the most duels, made the most tackles, won the most aerial duels and had the best ground duel success rate.

His tackling is the most superior as he doubles second-placed Trippier’s per-game tally of 1.7 with 3.4, all while Alexander-Arnold and Walker, respectively, register a measly 1.5 and 1.2. Perhaps more indicative of Chelsea’s need to defend more, but their captain has shown time and time again that he is a solid figure when attempting to thwart opposition attacks. Squakwa’s statistics also show that he is more willing to contest a 50-50 situation with an opponent given his 13 duels contested stands tall and proud, followed by Trippier’s score of 8.9. Because City are rarely under pressure and more often that not in possession of the ball, Walker’s tally of 5.8 doesn’t hold much substance.

Alexander-Arnold is, rightly and wrongly, persistently berated by fans and pundits alike for his inability to defend. That said, the statistics show that he had racked up the most clearances and interceptions per game out of the quartet with 1.8 and 1.1, respectively. His ball recovery tally is also the highest of the bunch, with him winning the ball back 7.6 times per match. The statistic doesn’t prove whereabouts these actions are performed but, nevertheless, it does prove his defensive acumen.

As a collective team, however, James boasts the worst defensive record out of the four, having racked up zero clean sheets and conceded an astonishing 2.9 goals per game that he’s been a part of. Walker and Trippier are joint-leaders on the clean sheet front with 0.3 apiece, while the Newcastle stalwart and Alexander-Arnold have conceded the least goals with 1.1 per game since the 2023/24 campaign started.