Forget Mo Salah: Another Liverpool player was back to his best against Aston Villa - opinion

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Mohamed Salah matched a Wayne Rooney record as Liverpool beat Aston Villa, but another player was quietly impressive on Saturday.The Reds were much improved when they kicked off proceedings at Anfield on Saturday evening.Dominik Szoboszlai’s position change made a world of difference for Liverpool, replacing Florian Wirtz as the most advanced midfielder.He, along with the rest of the frontline, pressed Aston Villa well and forced Emi Martinez and co. into several mistakes, which eventually led to Mohamed Salah scoring to match Wayne Rooney’s record for most goal contributions at a single club.While Salah took the headlines for his impressive achievement, another player was superb on November 1.Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesConor Bradley was back in form for Liverpool vs Aston Villa.Salah has struggled this season at times, with many theories on why that is the case already mooted.Among them was that the Liverpool winger is missing his partnership with Trent Alexander-Arnold following his move to Real Madrid.The Reds replaced Alexander-Arnold by signing Jeremie Frimpong.However, the Dutchman has been injured for much of his Liverpool stint, and when he has played, Frimpong has been subpar.This has forced 22-year-old Conor Bradley into the spotlight this season.The Northern Irishman is yet to come anywhere close to Trent’s level, but Saturday’s performance was arguably his best of the season.Bradley looked so much more confident than usual. He was linking up with Salah, pushing forward into midfield, pressing Villa well, and creating space with his movement off the ball.Arne Slot’s winning formula will cost Liverpool playersLiverpool’s board were backing Slot no matter the result against Villa, but the Dutchman will still be pleased to have found a winning formula against a top team after such a horrid run.However, that formula, for the most part, means less room in the eleven for the Reds’ summer signings.Andy Robertson was much more competent at left-back than Milos Kerkez has been, while it’s hard to see Wirtz regaining his starting spot as the number 10 in the near future.There’s no need to panic, and Liverpool’s summer signings will come good, but the Villa victory did highlight the fact that most will probably need some time to properly integrate into the team.