News of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury came as a huge shock to Liverpool fans on Tuesday, and with good reason.
The defense was already looking somewhat threadbare amid a mounting injury list, but losing Alexander-Arnold from it is another matter entirely. The Reds’ vice-captain has been in sparkling form this season, once again proving to be the architect of all of his side’s creativity.
“It’s a big blow,” Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders said at his pre-match press conference. “He was one of our most important players. He creates a lot of dynamics, he’s always decisive, even in bad spells he was the one who put the balls where it made the difference. We will have to find new dynamics without him because he made our game flexible, so it’s a big blow.”
But if Lijnders conveyed a worried tone on Tuesday, if anything Jürgen Klopp was much more upbeat just before kick-off as he discussed Alexander-Arnold’s replacement — a certain Conor Bradley.
“Conor is a top boy,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “The pre-season he had before he got injured was really impressive, the season he had before was really impressive. He’s our player and we knew we always wanted to use him as soon as he’s fit.
“Now he’s fit, but the others are not, so it’s all fine. Of course we trust him.”
Bradley’s performance against Fulham demonstrated exactly why. Having impressed in a 15-minute cameo against Arsenal just a few days earlier, he picked up where he left off as he was handed his big chance from the start.
Liverpool wasn’t all that impressive in the first half, but that was certainly not for a lack of trying from the 20-year-old. He linked up superbly with Harvey Elliott in one of the few bright moments in the opening 45 minutes, with his resultant cross cut out by Bernd Leno.
Bradley kept plugging away, and should really have had an assist to boast for his efforts, only for Darwin Núñez to be denied by Bernd Leno at close range in the second half. Nevertheless, Bradley was excellent at right-back, keeping things under control defensively too.
It’s no wonder then that he received an embrace from his manager at full-time. Alexander-Arnold’s ‘dynamics’ might be hard to replicate, but Klopp’s trust is well placed in his vice-captain’s new deputy at right-back.
