Conor Bradley put on an impeccable performance for Liverpool against Real Madrid, with Ian Wright now saying that he could go to another level for the Anfield outfit.
The Northern Irishman managed to keep Vinicius Jr at bay, with the Brazilian trying to get a penalty or free kick at every chance he got.
No matter what Vinicius tried, he couldn’t seem to get past Bradley, so in the end, he resorted to diving on the ground to try and get the right-back yellow or red carded and give Real an advantage.
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Fortunately for Liverpool, the referee never fell for one of his dives, and Bradley kept his head throughout the entirety of the clash.
Liverpool's Northern Irish defender #12 Conor Bradley (C) vies with Real Madrid's Brazilian forward #07 Vinicius Junior (R) during the UEFA Champions League, league phase football match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield
Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
And now, because of this performance, Wright believes that the 22-year-old will start to thrive under Arne Slot.
Ian Wright says Conor Bradley’s confidence at Liverpool will have skyrocketed
As mentioned, Bradley arguably put in one of his best-ever performances for Liverpool on Tuesday.
Every single tackle and pass was on point, and to be honest, the defender hardly ever put a foot wrong.
Coming into the 2025-26 season, his confidence was likely down since the Reds chose to sign Jeremie Frimpong; however, since he’s been out injured and has failed to live up to the same levels as Bradley, the Dutchman will have a lot of making up to do upon his return.
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And now, while speaking on the Stick to Football Podcast, Wright has shared what Bradley’s recent performance will have done for his confidence.
“That’s what you want. You want to see him up against, like a winger like that, because then that takes him to another place in respect of his confidence and that, because like he done everything last night,” he said.
“He was brilliant to watch, fantastic to watch, because it’s against one of the best wingers.”
Conor Bradley must start for Liverpool even when Jeremie Frimpong is back from injury
One of the biggest debates to have emerged from Anfield this season has been who Liverpool’s starting right-back should be.
Slot’s right-back situation has been a problem since Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure with Dominik Szoboszlai even being used at full back during the start of the term.
Indeed, injuries had a lot to do with this, but even when both Bradley and Frimpong were back, Slot still chose to start the Hungarian there instead to try and shoehorn Florian Wirtz into the midfield.
However, now that Bradley has proven how good he can actually be, there’s no way that Slot can drop him, even if Frimpong comes back with some fire in his stomach.
Jeremie Frimpong of Liverpool FC during the UEFA Champions League match between Galatasaray v Liverpool at the Rams Park on September 30.
Photo by Gerrit van Keulen/Soccrates/Getty Images
Liverpool must get their season back on track, and the best way for them to do this will be by ensuring that they’re defensively solid, which is exactly what the Northern Irishman brings them.
The Reds’ game against Manchester City on Sunday will be another big test for Bradley, but if he can even play half as well as he did against Los Blancos, the Reds could be onto a winner.