Trent Alexander-Arnold’s rise at Liverpool has been enjoyable to watch.

The 20-year-old has gone from academy graduate at the club to first-team regular in no time at all.

He was entrusted to mark Cristiano Ronaldo in the final of the Champions League last season and was hailed for his efforts against Paris Saint-Germain last month.

“Young Trent Alexander-Arnold is special,” Match of the Day host Gary Lineker wrote on Twitter as Liverpool secured a memorable 3-2 win.

The right-back was up against an imposing attacking trio of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani, which would be an intimidating task for many players.

But Alexander-Arnold showed great maturity, leaving Liverpool supporters confident in the knowledge that they have their right-back of the next decade.

Coming up against world-class players can only help the youngster’s development but he insists there’s another winger who gave him more trouble than any of the aforementioned names.

Trent's hardest opponent

In an interview with The Times, Alexander-Arnold said Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha was tougher to play against than Ronaldo and Neymar.

Zaha may not belong in the world-class bracket, but Alexander-Arnold found him a nightmare to play against.

“On the day, I'd say Zaha was the hardest,” he said.

“Just his athleticism. You can't get the ball off him, hard to tackle, fast, skilful, can score goals, set them up, a match-winner.

“With Neymar and Ronaldo, you can see they are very intelligent players, people who know their trade, different movements, but they never got much of the ball against us.

“Obviously Zaha is not at a level of Ronaldo and Neymar, but for me on the day Zaha was probably the hardest.”

The Crystal Palace man has been mightily impressive following his return to the club in 2014.

Indeed, he’s in the conversation for best player outside the top six clubs in the Premier League.

And he’s certainly earned Alexander-Arnold’s respect.

The duo will next meet when Crystal Palace travel to Anfield on January 19.