“Take a bow son” - Jamie Carragher in awe of what Liverpool star did against Chelsea
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher was impressed by the performance of 20-year-old right-back Conor Bradley in the side's 4-1 win over Chelsea at Anfield on Wednesday, January 31. The academy graduate was impressive on his second Premier League start for the Reds, and had a hand in three goals on the night.
Chelsea visited Liverpool in the Premier League on a run of three successive wins in the competition and were looking to close the gap on the European spots. Their prior meeting with the Reds on the opening day of the season ended in an entertaining 1-1 draw.
Liverpool were almost back to full strength for the visit of Chelsea, but manager Jurgen Klopp opted to leave Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench in favor of starting Conor Bradley. The Northern Irishman justified his inclusion in emphatic fashion, leading Jamie Carragher to praise him with a post on X during the game.
"Conor Bradley take a bow son!"
The Reds are nine places above Chelsea in the league standings and they just showed why, with a measured and dominant performance at home. Bradley was at the center of his side's performance as he contributed two assists and a goal in the match.
Before he added his name to the scoresheet in the 39th minute, Conor Bradley fed Diogo Jota for the second successive game as the Portuguese forward opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. The right-back got on the end of a fast break before arrowing his first Liverpool goal into the far corner.
Bradley recorded a second assist of the night with a brilliant cross, which was expertly headed home by Dominik Szoboszlai. The youngster came off to a standing ovation in the 68th minute as Alexander-Arnold came on to replace him.
Liverpool show marked improvement to thrash Chelsea
When Liverpool and Chelsea clashed at Stamford Bridge on Matchday One, the Blues could easily have taken all three points in the encounter. They took the game to Klopp's men and probably deserved more than just a point on the opening day.
On Wednesday, however, there was never a danger of such happening as the Reds took charge from minute one to minute 90 in front of their fans. Jota got them into the lead before Bradley added his name to the scoresheet in the first half while Darwin Nunez struck the woodwork from the penalty spot.
Szoboszlai scored his side's third before Christopher Nkunku pulled one back for the visitors, and Luis Diaz rounded off the scoring. The Reds (51 points) continue at the summit of the Premier League with a five-point cushion over Manchester City and Arsenal, their nearest competitors for the title.