Liverpool have already suffered more than their fair share of injury woe this season, and yet another body blow has emerged to compound a miserable week for the Reds.
The excruciating home defeat by Crystal Palace was worsened by the sight of Conor Bradley hobbling off the pitch early in the second half, and it appears to be more than just a knock that he can shake off.
Speaking on the Walk On podcast, The Athletic’s reliable LFC correspondent James Pearce suggested that the 20-year-old’s campaign may have ended prematurely.
He said: “Then there was the sad sight of Conor Bradley hobbling off. It would be a surprise if we saw him again this season amid fears he may have damaged ankle ligaments.”
The one silver lining to Bradley’s injury is that the substitution which forced him off the pitch on Sunday also saw Trent Alexander-Arnold make his first appearance since mid-February, so the vice-captain’s return to action couldn’t have been better timed.
Just as Liverpool were getting several key players back, though – Diogo Jota and Alisson Becker also made their respective returns over the past week – along comes this latest body blow to make it a case of two steps forward and one backwards in terms of squad availability.
Although Trent’s comeback would likely have seen the Northern Ireland youngster assume a backup role for the rest of the campaign in any event, it’s still a setback for the 20-year-old and the squad as a whole to have a superb breakthrough season cut short so abruptly.
Jurgen Klopp will now be praying that the Reds’ number 66 won’t suffer any body blows of his own for the next few weeks, even with Joe Gomez capable of deputising at right-back if required.
We wish Bradley the very best in his recovery from his injury, and hopefully he’ll pick up where he left off when he’s next able to feature for Liverpool.
More must-reads: