Liverpool are still reeling from the news that Trent Alexander-Arnold will miss the next three weeks with injury.
A knee issue for Trent has come at a bad time for the Reds, with a number of injuries already depleting the squad. Nevertheless, Liverpool’s usual right-back missing means there’s a big opportunity for young Conor Bradley.
There’s a lot of expectation on the 20-year-old, who was terrific on-loan at Bolton Wanderers last season.
His first real chance to justify that hype came last night, with the Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg against Fulham. And speaking to Sky Sports after the game, former Liverpool captain Jamie Redknapp assessed Bradley’s performance.
“I thought Conor Bradley second half was fabulous,” Redknapp gushed. “I thought he did excellently.
“In the first half it was difficult. He never quite got that relationship with Harvey Elliott to get down that right hand side.”
Bradley impresses for Liverpool
Redknapp’s assessment is pretty much on point, we think. There were moments of struggle for Bradley, especially against Fulham’s reported Liverpool target Antonee Robinson.
But the Northern Irishman never hid. He kept on going, kept being an outlet and grew and grew into the game.
With Liverpool as a whole improving in the second-half, Bradley started to really show his quality.
Getting forward brilliantly and winning a number of free-kicks in dangerous areas, the youngster was unlucky not to claim an assist after slipping Darwin Nunez in brilliantly.
It’s obvious that Bradley is a different player to Alexander-Arnold. He doesn’t possess the passing range of the 25-year-old.
But in all honesty, unless Liverpool were inexplicably playing Kevin De Bruyne at right-back, there would always be a drop-off in that regard.
Instead, Bradley offers a little more thrust than Trent, though. He’s a real livewire and needs absolutely no second invitation to get forward.
We liked we saw, and Jurgen Klopp did, too. With Alexander-Arnold still missing for some time, this was a great start for Conor.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
