Liverpool injury blow confirmed as Arne Slot explains surprise tactical decision | OneFootball

Reds suffer fresh setback in thrilling Aston Villa draw with Manchester City and Newcastle clashes to come

Liverpool are expected to be without Conor Bradley for at least the next two matches after a fresh injury blow suffered against Aston Villa.

The right-back replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold with just under 25 minutes remaining of Wednesday night’s pulsating 2-2 Premier League draw at Villa Park that saw the leaders drop points but also move eight clear of nearest title rivals Arsenal at the summit, having now played a game more.

The Northern Ireland international will now be fully assessed by Liverpool to determine the extent of the problem and length of his absence, but manager Arne Slot is anticipating that he will not be available either for Sunday’s huge showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium or next Wednesday’s visit of Newcastle to Anfield, a game which will effectively act as a dress rehearsal for the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on March 16.

Liverpool also host struggling Southampton before that and have another Merseyside derby against Everton on the horizon in early April.

"It is difficult but he felt a bit when he made a sprint,” Slot said of Bradley’s late injury against Villa. “He tried to continue but had to go out.

"All the time with injuries, I always say if a player wants to go out himself, that's not a promising sign.

"It will probably lead to the fact he is probably 99.9 per cent not available for City and I don't expect him against Newcastle as well. Then we have to see if it’s one or two weeks or if it's going to be even longer."

Bradley’s injury leaves Liverpool notably short on cover for starting right-back Alexander-Arnold, himself only recently back from a short spell out with a knee issue.

Joe Gomez suffered the recurrence of a hamstring injury that kept him out for the whole of January just 10 minutes into his return in the shock FA Cup defeat by Plymouth earlier this month and is facing several more weeks on the sidelines.

Liverpool were also without forward Cody Gakpo for the second successive game against Villa due to a heavy knock sustained in the recent Merseyside derby, but Slot said before that match that his compatriot was “close to being back”. The Reds’ only other absentee at present is young midfielder Tyler Morton, who is not expected back until May after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Curtis Jones returned from his one-match suspension against Villa and operated on the left of the attack as Slot made a surprising tactical switch following Sunday’s nervy win over Wolves, with usual starter Luis Diaz only coming on for the last 10 minutes.

Reflecting on that change after the game, Slot said: “Result-wise, going 2-1 in at half-time, you could say it didn’t work. Performance-wise, it worked really, really, really well because we totally did not deserve to go in 2-1 down at half-time – again, in my opinion.

“The reason why we did this is because Lucho [Luis Diaz] played three games in seven days. I played him at Plymouth because I knew I had Cody [Gakpo] so I could switch them around if needed but then Cody got injured at Everton, he got a big knock, and then all of a sudden you have only one winger left.

“So, that’s why for today we felt this could work and I felt it did if you look at the amount of chances we created and how we played the game. But result-wise you never know if you would have done it differently what might have happened but it wasn’t smart to play Lucho 90 minutes again.

“The same way I had to take out Jota and Trent [in the second half], both coming back from injuries. Jota hasn’t played for four or five months, it is his second start now after four or five months. So yeah, you have to take care of them, especially in a period of time where you play so many games.”