The Trent Unlocker: Liverpool know Alexander-Arnold's secret sidekick

Tom Weber

• Updated: 12 Jan 2024 10:55 GMT
• 7 min read

The full-back injury crisis at Liverpool could be something of a blessing in disguise.

With both Andrew Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas out, Joe Gomez has had to deputise at left-back, leaving Jurgen Klopp with no senior Liverpool player to cover for the now-also-injured Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The German, therefore, has turned to young Conor Bradley. The 20-year-old Northern Irishman already featured occasionally in earlier games this season, but his outing against Fulham in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg really put his name on the map.

In the words of Klopp, Bradley put in an "exceptional" shift at right-back against the Cottagers, completing 87.5 per cent of his passes, engaging in the most duels and making the most tackles out of any Liverpool player on the day.

"What a boy," Klopp told Sky Sports after the Fulham game. "Wonderful, fantastic character, a real talent, top potential and he's in the right team because everybody loves him, everybody respects him, everybody wants him to succeed."

The next Trent?

Of course, it would be foolish to tip the 20-year-old for great things based on one good performance, but Bradley could solve one of Jurgen Klopp's headaches this season: The question of what is to be done about Trent Alexander-Arnold?

Is he still a right-back or is he a midfielder at this point? Trent has been spectacular this term for the table-topping Reds, playing as an inverted full-back, but there is an argument to be made that he could or should be unleashed in midfield full-time to maximise his usefulness.

The emergence of Bradley may lead to just that. The youngster provided adequate defensive cover, but he crucially also showed that there is something for him to build on going forward.

He played two key passes and provided three crosses from right back and he should really have finished the game with an assist had Darwin Nunez not done, well, Darwin Nunez things in front of goal.

Featuring on loan for Bolton in League One last term, Bradley showed that there is a bit of (old) Alexander-Arnold about him. He notched five goals and five assists playing as really something of a wing-back, similar to the way Trent used to interpret his full-back role before his shift towards midfield.

Data from SciSports shows just how similar Trent and Bradley were last season prior to the former's role change. Intriguingly, Bradley also showed himself capable of inverting from time to time.

If he puts in more performances like his Fulham shift, Bradley will be a viable right-back option for Klopp for the senior team going forward. The youngster could save the Reds millions that would have been otherwise spent on finding adequate cover for Alexander-Arnold.