Bradley, 20, impresses in Liverpool’s 4-1 victory over Chelsea, and Klopp finds another gem.
England’s Liverpool (AP) — Following Wednesday’s 4-1 Premier League victory against Chelsea, 20-year-old right back Conor Bradley scored one goal and assisted on another, suggesting that Jurgen Klopp has found yet another gem during his final season at Liverpool.
England’s Liverpool (AP) — Following Wednesday’s 4-1 Premier League victory against Chelsea, 20-year-old right back Conor Bradley scored one goal and assisted on another, suggesting that Jurgen Klopp has found yet another gem during his final season at Liverpool.
An academy graduate named Bradley has been covering for Trent Alexander-Arnold while the England international has been sidelined due to injury. He played the part of Liverpool’s first-choice right back to perfection at Anfield, setting up goals for Diogo Jota and Dominik Szoboszlai while also providing assists for others.
Bradley, an international player for Northern Ireland who enrolled in Liverpool’s youth program in 2019, remarked, “It just feels like I’m in a dream.” “It’s incredible.”
Darwin Nunez missed a penalty kick and hit the goal frame three times during the game, but Luis Diaz scored Liverpool’s fourth goal as part of a relentless, commanding performance by the home team.
The 200th Premier League victory of Klopp’s career gave Liverpool a five-point advantage over Manchester City, who triumphed over Burnley 3-1 on Wednesday. City is engaged in a match.
Liverpool will be difficult to stop as the squad makes an intense push for the championship, especially after Klopp announced on Friday that he will be departing the team at the end of the season after nearly nine years in command.
For the final stretch, Klopp has an abundance of depth, with Bradley emerging as a pleasant surprise who can obviously cover Alexander-Arnold quite well.
Bradley was a persistent threat up front, and in the 23rd minute, he slipped in Jota, who dribbled past Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashile to score with his left foot. This gave Liverpool the lead.
In the 39th, Bradley added another goal after gaining possession of a pass from Diaz, moving forward 30 meters, and hitting a low shot from just inside the area into the far corner. Alexander-Arnold would have been proud of the finish, just as Bradley had been of the cross he gave Szoboszlai to help him home in the 65th.
Given Bradley’s form, Szoboszlai cheekily warned Alexander-Arnold, “Trent should take care of his position.”
Bradley reported that he had performed “quite well” in Alexander-Arnold’s place.
“It was regrettable how Trent was hurt,” he remarked. “I had to try taking a chance on this.”
In the 79th, Nunez made up for his missed penalty kick by crossing for Diaz to score, restoring Liverpool’s three-goal lead after Christopher Nkunku, a substitute, scored for Chelsea in the 71st.
The teams were very different from one another, and Chelsea may suffer psychologically from Liverpool’s victory in the lead-up to their League Cup final match on February 25.
Mauricio Pochettino, the manager of Chelsea, stated, “It’s so clear they were much better than us.” “We didn’t win any of the duels.”
