Paul Merson says Liverpool have to start ‘outstanding’ youngster over Joe Gomez vs Man City

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With the midweek Europa League trip to face Sparta Prague now out of the way, Liverpool’s attention turns to a mammoth match on Sunday.

The quick turnaround is not ideal for the Reds, but there’s no question that they’ll be ready for the visit of title rivals Manchester City. It could be a season defining match.

Heading into it, Liverpool do still have a number of fitness issues to contend with, one of the biggest being the continued absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Without Trent, young Conor Bradley has stepped in impressively though. And writing his pre-match predictions for Sportskeeda, pundit Paul Merson has said that Bradley simply has to start against City.

“Conor Bradley has been outstanding since coming into the team and should keep his spot at right-back,” Merson asserts. “He’ll come up against Jeremy Doku, but the lad hasn’t put a foot wrong in his young Liverpool career so far, so I doubt Jurgen Klopp will bench him for Joe Gomez.

“The Englishman might be the safer option, but Bradley is much better going forward and Liverpool will need his energy down the right flank to make their presence felt in the game.

“I think Bradley’s done outstandingly well, he needs to play. He’ll probably play against Doku but that’s okay.”

Bradley set to get City nod

Since Merson wrote his predictions yesterday, a couple of things look to have changed here. Firstly, it seems likely that Gomez will now be needed at centre-half, not right-back.

After Ibrahima Konate limped out of last night’s game, Liverpool are sweating on his fitness. Klopp spoke after the game to allay fears of a serious injury to Konate, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be ready for Sunday.

As a result, Gomez is next in line. Klopp could of course turn to Jarell Quansah for the top-of-the-table clash, but Gomez has shackled Erling Haaland before and is the best bet to do it again.

On top of that, Bradley has proven to be a reliable presence at right-back. He did make a bit of an error last night, lashing a strange own goal past Caoimhin Kelleher in Prague, but that aside the 20-year-old has been solid and at times spectacular.

The other thing that has changed is that it now looks as though City will be without Doku at Anfield.

Given the depth of their squad, that shouldn’t make too much difference. Pep Guardiola will still have an incredibly good footballer fronting up his left side.

But that won’t faze Bradley. He has stood up against every challenge thrown at him in a Liverpool shirt so far. This might be the biggest, but he’ll be ready.

So too will Gomez, who has been one of the Reds’ best players all season. With those two locking down the right side of defence, Liverpool should be fine.