Liverpool’s only natural right-back to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley, is still on Merseyside. The youngster has a knee issue.
This comes from Sky Sports. They say that Conor Bradley will miss Northern Ireland’s meeting with Luxembourg as he’s still on Merseyside with Liverpool. The club are assessing the youngster over a knee injury.
Bradley can’t play for his country as a result, though it’s unclear if he’ll also miss the game with Hungary on Tuesday. Either way, it’s not great news for Liverpool, who are already down a right-back.
Conor Bradley and Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold has an injury himself, of course, and will be out for the next little while. There’s apparently hope that he’ll return to face Manchester City on April 10th – but the Reds play twice before then.
Neco Williams is at Fulham, too, meaning Bradley is actually the only natural right-back in the squad. Liverpool would at least have him on the bench against Watford and Benfica, even if he isn’t the first-choice replacement.
And that’s worth reiterating – we imagine both James Milner and Joe Gomez are preferred in the right-back slot for big games. Bradley is a natural there, yes, but lacks anything like the experience required to take on a Champions League quarter-final.
In fact, Bradley hasn’t been training with the squad in recent weeks, given virtually everyone was fit. That has changed, of course, and we do think they’d have brought him back in if fit.
So while the teenager isn’t at the top of the list for a start right now, Liverpool will want him as an option. They saw last season that there’s value in using players in their natural positions as they battled an injury crisis at the back. Having Bradley available creates another option as they cover Alexander-Arnold.
Let’s hope the assessment goes well and he’s back with the squad post-international break.
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