Liverpool are set to be without a number of players because of injury for Sunday’s trip to Man City
Liverpool saw another player join their injury list on Wednesday night as attention now turns to Sunday’s clash with Man City. Conor Bradley came off with a muscle injury late on, having only replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 66th minute as the Reds drew 2-2 with Aston Villa.
While Liverpool are yet to learn the severity of the Northern Ireland international’s setback, Arne Slot confirmed at his pre-match press conference ahead of the weekend’s trip to the Etihad that he expects the right-back to miss both Man City and the Reds’ midweek meeting with Newcastle United.
“Conor still has to come in,” the head coach said when conceding there was no new update on the full-back on Thursday morning. “We don’t know yet
“I would be completely surprised if he was involved in the Sunday game or the Wednesday game against Newcastle. You can assume that’s not going to happen.”
Bradley’s absence leaves Liverpool at the risk of a defensive injury crisis, after Slot confirmed Joe Gomez has undergone surgery on a hamstring injury and will be ruled out until the final weeks of the season.
It leaves the Reds without a natural deputy for vice-captain Alexander-Arnold, who Slot is continuing to manage carefully after his own recent return from injury.
The Dutchman explained such treatment was why he withdrew the right-back in the first place against Aston Villa, having already pre-agreed how long the defender could feature during Liverpool’s run of five fixtures in 15 days.
However, following the loss of Bradley to injury, Slot has admitted such a plan will likely need to be re-visited.
In these five games, he already knows how many minutes he would make,” he explained. “That was in a situation where Conor was available as well. Now maybe we have to adjust our plan.”
Liverpool are also managing Diogo Jota carefully following his own recent return from injury, with Slot admitting they need the Portuguese to stay fit for the rest of the season.
While Alexander-Arnold and Jota are available for the trip to City, the Reds are still sweating over Cody Gakpo’s availability.
The Dutchman was forced off with a knock in last week’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, and has missed Liverpool’s last two matches as a result. Yet to return to team training as of Thursday morning, Slot admitted it will be a close call as to whether the forward could be available to face City.
“Let’s see, let’s see. I hope (he is available),” Slot said. “I’m not 100% sure because he hasn’t trained with the team yet. Maybe he does a bit today, I don’t know exactly. It will be a close call.”
Elsewhere, the Reds are also without the services of Tyler Morton after the midfielder underwent surgery on a shoulder injury.
