Conor Bradley suffers serious injury in huge blow to NI
Conor Bradley has suffered a serious injury and is set to undergo surgery on his knee.
The Liverpool fullback will be ruled out for the remainder of the season, which is also a huge blow to Northern Ireland.
While Bradley has not sustained an ACL injury, there is ‘significant’ damage to the bone and ligaments in his left knee.
Conor Bradley is set to undergo surgery on his knee. Pic: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Bradley had to be carried off the pitch during Thursday’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal after going down with the injury.
He will now have an operation in the coming days, which will rule him out of the remainder of Liverpool’s league campaign.
Bradley faces a race to be fit for the World Cup in June, though his absence over the next few months may mean that he will not be playing at the tournament either way.
Bradley faces a race to be fit for the World Cup in June. Pic: Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi via Getty Images
Northern Ireland have to beat Italy and then either Wales or Bosnia Herzegovina in the March playoffs to secure a spot in the biggest event in football.
Bradley is undoubtedly one of the side’s best players and this injury leaves them at an even bigger disadvantage than they were already at.
While confirming the injury, Liverpool stated: ‘No timeframe is being placed on his return to playing at this stage of the process.’
Northern Ireland have to beat Italy and then either Wales or Bosnia Herzegovina in the March playoffs. Pic: INPHO/Presseye/William Cherry
Bradley has already had a tough time with injuries over the past couple of seasons, with a persistent hamstring problem limiting his game time.
However, this latest injury evidently came from the way he landed while chasing the ball against Arsenal.
Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli sparked outrage over his reaction to Bradley’s injury, attempting to push the Tyrone native off the pitch while he writhed in pain.
Gabriel Martinelli sparked outrage over his reaction to the injury. Pic: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Martinelli seemingly thought Bradley was time-wasting and issued an apology after the match.
The Brazilian posted on Instagram that he was ‘deeply sorry’ and said that he had messaged Bradley about the incident.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is now left with Jeremie Frimpong and Joe Gomez as his right-back options, though neither are ideal.
Frimpong has been performing well as a winger over recent weeks, covering for Mohamed Salah, who is away at AFCON.
Meanwhile, Gomez has struggled with injuries himself and is considered a weaker point in the Liverpool defence.
Slot may likely revert to a previous decision he made earlier in the season when Frimpong and Bradley were both unavailable, sticking midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai in right-back.
The Hungarian international performed well in the position but thrives better in a more advanced role.
Curtis Jones is another midfielder that Slot has experimented with at right-back and could be considered as an option moving forward.
