Liverpool defender Conor Bradley will be “the talk of the town” when Northern Ireland take on Italy in March.
That’s according to Kyle Lafferty, who has been [speaking to I Love Palermo Calcio](https://www.ilovepalermocalcio.com/esclusiva-lafferty-intervista-irlanda-nord-italia-palermo/amp/). He’s backing the Liverpool defender for a starring role in World Cup qualifying.
Northern Ireland are set to take on Italy in the World Cup play-offs in March. They qualified for the play-off semi-finals via the UEFA Nations League route after missing out on a place via qualifying. They finished third behind Germany and Slovakia in that.
But they were one of the four best ranked group winners in the 2024-25 Nations League who did not finish in the top two of their World Cup qualifying group.
A big meeting is now on the cards with Italy. Gennaro Gattuso’s side are in the draw after finishing second in the qualifying group behind Norway.
The Italians have a strong historical advantage over Northern Irelan, with only one loss in 11 all-time meetings. Northern Ireland’s last win was in January 1958, during a qualifier for the World Cup that year.
If they are to win this time, Liverpool’s Connor Bradley will be key. He’s established himself as a star after breaking through at Anfield. And Lafferty is backing the Liverpool man for a big game.
“The star player is Liverpool’s Connor Bradley, who performed well in the Champions League against Real Madrid,” he said.
“He’ll be the talk of the town. The team surprised everyone with their performance, and this is a measure of the work done by their coach. It will be an interesting match against Italy, and Northern Ireland’s players will undoubtedly fight for their place.”