There was bad news for Liverpool yesterday, as Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out of next weekend’s Carabao Cup final.
The right-back had initially looked to have recovered from a worrying knee injury sustained at the start of January. But his return to the team now seems to have been premature. It isn’t yet known exactly when he’ll return, but it won’t be before next Sunday’s clash with Chelsea.
As a result, The Athletic report that the door has now been opened for somebody else to step through. Just as he did while Alexander-Arnold was out last month, it’s claimed that Conor Bradley is ‘likely’ to be the man to come in and start the final.
Bradley was excellent over the course of January, duly scooping the club’s player of the month award. And it now appears that he could get a little run in the team again. Although it’s reported that no surgery is required for Trent, it’s worrying that no timeframe is being given for recovery.
In better news, The Athletic report that all three of Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Ryan Gravenberch are set to return for Saturday’s game against Brentford.
All three had sat out of last weekend’s battle with Burnley, but Jurgen Klopp is said to be ‘hopeful’ that all the trio will be back to face the Bees.
Bradley set for final role
Although losing Alexander-Arnold is a big blow for Liverpool, it really does now give Bradley the chance to shine.
There was similar anxiety when the 25-year-old went down with injury at the start of the year. But to his immense credit, young Conor made a mockery of that panic.
Even Trent himself said that the Northern Irishman had been ‘incredible.’ Bradley stepped in and really set the world alight.
Obviously, that has raised expectations massively amongst the fanbase. Whereas before there wasn’t much expectation on Bradley’s shoulders, he’s now going to have to deal with the pressure of living up to the recent hype.
As he deals with the sad loss of his father several weeks ago, hopefully the 20-year-old is able to cope with that burden.
If he can, then there’s no reason to be too downhearted for Liverpool. Bradley has the capability to be a real menace in his own right.
It perhaps helps that the final will be against Chelsea, a side the young man already tore to shreds just a few weeks ago. The same again, and he’ll start to write his name into Liverpool folklore at Wembley.
Before that though, the Reds have two Premier League games to play. With Andy Robertson back fit, Klopp has the option to play Gomez at right-back just in case Conor isn’t ready to return just yet.
But long-run, it’s now his spot to lose. Having been injured at the start of the season, Bradley might have felt he’d missed his chance to make an impression. Now he has the opportunity to make up for lost time. Go and smash it, Conor.
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