There were some wonderful performances for Liverpool in their 6-3 win over Tottenham on Sunday, but it was Trent Alexander-Arnold's stunning cross to Luis Diaz that set Arne Slot's Premier League leaders on their way to this emphatic result.
“The cross is something else,” said Gary Neville in co-commentary for Sky Sports. “It's precision. There are very few players in the history of the Premier League who can bring in sixpence like that, with that level of accuracy, speed and whip. It's absolutely perfect.”
Alexander-Arnold's cross was a feature of the match; his four successful balls from open play were the most he has ever scored in a Premier League match. In fact, it's been two and a half years since he last did that, also against Spurs, coincidentally.
But it is his passing range in a broader sense that makes Alexander-Arnold such a rare talent. Much has been made of the control that Slot has tried to introduce to Liverpool, but their right-back remains an outlier and often looks for riskier but more rewarding passes.
He has made the most progressive passes of any player in the Premier League this season (205) and his average passing distance is 19.1 metres, which is longer than any other Liverpool outfield player. His first thought is how we can hurt the opposition.
This is evident from the number of passes he makes when breaking the back line. Alexander-Arnold is averaging 11.5 such passes per 90 minutes this season, which ranks only second behind Kevin De Bruyne. But the Liverpool man manages that from deeper areas.
Against Tottenham, seven of his passes passed six or more opponents. It's been over a year since he did that in a Premier League match, but it's indicative of his ability to get through a team. There is certainly no more spectacular passer of the ball in the country.
Rogers dribbles against Man City
“He exploded last season and this season. I think he is a really top class player. England have another exceptional player.” That was Pep Guardiola's verdict after being knocked out by Morgan Rogers in Manchester City's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
It was perhaps the most eye-catching performance this reporter has seen in person all season, bullying the reigning champions with his power, running away from them with his speed and punishing them with his skill. He was excellent against his old club.
He set up Jhon Duran's opener and then scored the second himself. He has five goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, but that only hints at his role under Unai Emery.
Rogers, 22, is among the top 10 players in the Premier League in terms of dribbles and through balls completed, but what is particularly interesting is his outsized importance to Emery against what could be considered the toughest opposition.
He completed five dribbles against City, having done the same against Arsenal. Rogers hasn't done that more than twice in his appearances this season against teams other than last season's top two. Villa uses him to get onto the pitch in these games.
“We had to connect,” Emery explained afterwards. “He did a fantastic job in this situation. One of the qualities he showed was his drive. He made a fantastic drive, he broke the lines and we were able to get through. And he scored a fantastic goal.”
There have been some suggestions that Rogers has looked tired at times this season and that would be understandable. This was the first time in a month that he had played at the weekend, as he also did not feature in a midweek match for Villa.
Interestingly, four of Rogers' five Premier League goals this season have come in games in which he has not played in midweek. When he is full of energy, he is simply unstoppable, as Guardiola and Manchester City discovered.
Leicester's contrasting goalkeepers
If there was any doubt about Mads Hermansen's importance to Leicester City, the goalkeeper's absence against Wolves underlined it as Danny Ward was criticized by the home support as the Foxes were beaten 3-0 at the King Power Stadium.
According to Opta, none of the three goals were attributed to him as a mistake – James Justin was more clearly responsible for the second – but it was tempting to think that the hugely impressive Hermansen could have prevented all of the Wolves' goals.
The booing for Ward was inappropriate, but reflects the fans' frustration and the stats back up the eye test. In Hermansen, Leicester have the goalkeeper who has prevented the most goals of anyone in the Premier League this season: 6.44 in total.
That's partly because he has conceded the second most shots of any goalkeeper in the league, which in itself shows just how precarious Leicester's position is. With almost everyone there they would certainly already be in the relegation zone.
If Hermansen is out for a longer period of time, there is a fear that they will end up here. And Leicester has been here before. The position was an issue in their 2022/23 relegation campaign, Ward and Daniel Iversen both struggled during that season.
Ward's record that season highlights the contrast. While Hermansen is helping to prevent 0.42 goals per 90 minutes this season, Ward ranks lowest among Premier League goalkeepers over the past three years – costing 0.28 goals per 90 minutes.
On average, the difference between the two could amount to two goals per three games. No wonder Leicester are eagerly awaiting his return. The defeat to Wolves was a bit of an unwelcome taste of how things could go without him.
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