Alan Shearer singled out two Liverpool players for praise in their 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday.
With the teams deadlocked after 75 minutes, Jurgen Klopp rolled the dice and brought on Conor Bradley and Bobby Clarke for Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones, and the double substitution worked perfectly.
Trent Alexander-Arnold moved straight into midfield to help Reds get over the finish line and avoid a needless restart, with the BBC pundit crediting the young duo who were introduced as the game entered the final quarter. .
Speaking about Bradley and Clarke on the Rest of Football podcast, Shearer said: “Did you see two young players sent off in the last 10-15 minutes, Jurgen Klopp?!
It was 0-0 at the time and I thought they were both great when they came on. “I think there was an element of ‘here we go’. They didn’t want a draw because it would spoil their winter weekend if they had to repeat. I think Klopp thought: ‘Should I go here?’ It was amazing. “The two young men who came in were really amazing,” he said.
Trent, Ibrahima Konate and Luis Diaz have largely overlooked the contributions of these two youngsters, but Shearer is right to single them out for praise.
Bradley has helped secure Liverpool’s right-back spot and has scored once and won two games since being introduced, while Clarke went 100 per cent in his third senior game and conceded just one goal, helping team to turn a draw into a win. In the last 15-20 minutes (counting the sofas).
It was a gamble on Klopp’s part to bring in an inexperienced duo at such a crucial time, but his bold move paid off wonders and was fully justified by the final result.
The two youngsters, who played the last 15 minutes, will certainly take plenty of encouragement from their cameo appearances at the Emirates Stadium and could even force the manager to consider extra playing time in tomorrow night’s clash with Fulham in the Carabao Cup.
