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Arne Slot has challenged Conor Bradley to show himself physically capable of playing multiple 90 minutes in the space of a few days, with Real Madrid coming up next for Liverpool.
After the Reds beat Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday, they will be back in action on Tuesday against the Spanish giant in the Champions League. And with Jeremie Frimpong out injured, Bradley is likely to be asked to go again.
This season has not been easy for the young Northern Ireland captain. Trent Alexander-Arnold's departure has opened up a spot in the team, but he has been in and out of the side up to this point in the campaign, in part due to injury.
Dominik Szoboszlai has successfully filled in at right-back a few times. Before this weekend, Bradley had only completed one full game at club level this season — in the Merseyside derby against Everton.
Nonetheless, with three huge games coming up this week, Slot wants Bradley to show that he can build on a strong showing. He starred against Real Madrid last season, a game in which he crunched into Kylian Mbappe and set the tone.
"The more players play together, the better it will be," Slot said during his post-match press conference at Anfield when he was asked about Bradley’s connection with Mohamed Salah.
"Conor played an outstanding game [against Aston Villa], like many others; I think the team performance is what made the difference today.
"Everyone was really fighting to get that win over the line: throwing themselves in front of shots, sprinting back when needed, being ready for a high press.
"So there were a lot of positives today, also from individual performances like Conor’s.
"The challenge for him now will be to make himself ready, because he’s not been used to 90 minutes a lot this season. After two days of rest the next one is coming up.
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"We have to think about that as well. But yes, he played well today."
Liverpool.com says: Bradley is a very good player but asking him to do three 90s in nine days after doing only one before that period this season seems like a big ask. It's something that Slot will have to think about really carefully.
A bit like Milos Kerkez, it is easy to forget how young Bradley is. On both sides of the Liverpool defense, there is real quality, though there will be inconsistencies in form and fitness as a result of their youth.
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