Pep Guardiola says his Manchester City assistant Pep Lijnders told him Conor Bradley 'could do everything' ahead of their 3-0 win over Liverpool.
The Etihad Stadium side enjoyed a dominant victory over their Premier League rivals on Sunday, with goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku making the difference for the hosts.
Following his man-of-the-match display against Real Madrid midweek, Bradley delivered a 4/10 display against Guardiola’s side, as he found it difficult to contain Doku on the wing and was caused all sorts of problems by the Belgium international.
While Bradley was a threat going forward, firing in several dangerous crosses, the 22-year-old – and the Liverpool backline as a whole – struggled, with Ibrahima Konate branded a 'liability' after another underwhelming display.
Lijnders Warned Pep Guardiola About Conor Bradley
Conor Bradley Liverpool
Lijnders, who spent six years at Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp’s assistant manager, was one of the off-field advantages Man City had over the Reds on Sunday.
The Dutchman is well aware of the strengths of almost every Liverpool player and had warned Guardiola about Bradley before the game, saying the right-back 'could do everything'.
Guardiola, who oversaw his 1000th game as a manager on Sunday, praised both Bradley and Jeremy Doku following their battle, describing the Belgian forward’s performance as 'outstanding' in his post-match press conference, as reported by the Liverpool Echo:
“Conor (Bradley) the right-back I was really, really impressed with, Pep Lijnders said he could do everything.
“I know the game against (Real) Madrid how good he was against Vinicius.
“And Jeremy handled it, aggressive with and without the ball. He played an outstanding game.”
Lijnders joined Man City as Guardiola’s assistant before the season, following his departure from Anfield at the end of the 2023/24 campaign alongside Klopp.
He arrived at the Etihad Stadium alongside set-piece coach James French, who was also a key member of Klopp’s backroom staff at Liverpool, where he worked as opposition analyst.
The dominant 3-0 win allowed City to cut the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to four points, following the Gunners’ entertaining 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday.
Guardiola’s side, having won five of their last six league games, face Newcastle away after the international break, while Liverpool host Nottingham Forest at Anfield.