Privileged young man, in a short time he breaks records of Salah and Trent

The Liverpool fanbase has taken Conor Bradley to its heart in double-quick time. With the performances the young right-back is delivering, it’s little wonder he’s the Kop’s new hero. The 20-year-old was voted the player of the match in the club’s official poll for the Reds’ 4-1 win over Chelsea, just as he was in the previous game against Norwich City. Only Mohamed Salah, as the saying goes, has also won the award in consecutive matches this season.

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As impressive as that is, the more obvious point of comparison for Bradley is Trent Alexander-Arnold. He recorded his 300th Liverpool appearance against Chelsea, becoming the third-youngest player in club history to reach that landmark. Yet his young apprentice from Northern Ireland has matched some of his other achievements having played just 14 games for the Reds.

Bradley’s three big chances last weekend were for different players Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and Núñez and all delivered in regular play. Again, it doesn’t make him better than his illustrious teammates, but the youngster does seem to have a knack for this sort of thing.

You may have seen that Bradley created four chances against Chelsea, the most of any player (and as many shots as the Blues had in total). While it’s obviously random to some extent, all four were for different teammates. On top of his assists, Liverpool’s number 84 played key passes to Núñez and Luis Diaz, meaning he teed up the starting front three. With his superb cross for Szoboszlai’s goal, Bradley set up four of the five players most likely to shoot, with only Curtis Jones as the other more advanced of the three midfielders not linking up with the youngster.

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The wonder boy

If that wasn’t eye-catching enough, the young right-back had set up the three forwards inside the opening 23 minutes, and all in open play. There is sadly no easy way to check how often Alexander-Arnold has set up each prong of the Reds’ attacking trident in a game. There are quite a few examples in his Premier League history but it appears only three with the likely starting forwards and all in open play. It’s a rare feat for a generational talent like Trent, and Bradley achieved it within half an hour of his second league start. The kid’s special.