Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold simply loves an assist.

Since breaking through into the Reds' first team during the 2017-18 season, the Englishman hasn't looked back and is now widely considered the best right-back in world football.

However, how does he compare to Manchester United legend Paul Scholes?

If that seems like a jarring and unfair question to ask, then stick with us here because the two players have been intriguingly compared in the wake of Liverpool's latest win.

Alexander-Arnold turned provider for both of Virgil van Dijk's goals during the victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, elevating his career Premier League tally to 18 assists.

TAA vs Scholes?

And that compares closer to Scholes' own tally than you might expect with the former United midfielder notching up 55 assists in 499 games during his illustrious career.

Scholes might have been one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history, but he wasn't well known for teeing up his teammates and it's prompting certain fans to run the maths.

They've worked out that Alexander-Arnold 'only' needs to provide 38 assists during his next 430 league games in England to surpass Scholes' total.

Viral statistic

That would be an average of around an assist every 11 games or around four a season, which is more than realistic when he accumulated 12 in 2018/19 alone.

In other words, yes, it looks as though United's greatest midfielder of the Premier League era could be out-assisted by a young Liverpool full-back who's barely the American legal drinking age.

GIVEMESPORT's Kobe Tong says

In the pantheon of amusing Premier League statistics that go viral, this is one of the more sensible ones.

For all his brilliance, there can be no doubting that Scholes' assist record is a little underwhelming and Alexander-Arnold will surely move past 55 if he stays loyal to his boyhood club.

However, it is worth mentioning that his position at right-back actually provides some advantages over deeper, central midfielders due to constant crossing and set-piece taking.

This is a Liverpool side who have scored more headed goals than any other Premier League club this season, after all.

But that doesn't mean that Scholes' number of assists shouldn't serve as a thumbs down next to his name whenever he's next compared to Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Only, as much as I trust my own opinion of football, you just need to look at Zinedine Zidane and Xavi's verdicts on Scholes to know he shouldn't be criticised too much...