by Liverpool could be without defenders Ibrahima Konaté and Conor Bradley when Manchester City visit on Sunday, with Arne Slot admitting the early signs from the injuries sustained against Real Madrid are not good.
Bradley was forced to retire in the 87th minute of Wednesday’s Champions League win with a hamstring injury and Konaté limped off after the final whistle with a knee problem. Both continued to be assessed at Liverpool’s AXA training complex on Thursday, with Bradley having a scan for an injury that could rule him out for several weeks.
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Liverpool’s first-choice right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold will, however, be fit to start against the failing Premier League champions, having recovered from his own hamstring problem.
Slot said: “They’re still being assessed, so it’s hard to see where they are injury-wise. Let’s wait and see, but it’s never a good sign that I had to take Conor off and Ibou didn’t leave the field like he should after such a fantastic match. He should have taken a walk [of the pitch] and applauded the fans but he couldn’t.
Bradley was outstanding against the European champions, canceling out Kylian Mbappé and helping create Alexis Mac Allister’s opening goal. Konaté would be a big loss against City, having formed a formidable centre-back pairing alongside Virgil van Dijk this season.
Liverpool would be 11 points clear of City if they win on Sunday but, despite a six-match winless streak and losing five of those six, Slot is wary of the threat he insists they continue to represent.
“Over the last eight or nine years, I don’t think the word easy comes to mind with City, home or away,” the head coach said. “I know everyone looks at their results, but if you analyze them, against Brighton they were leading 1-0 and could have scored two or three but were beaten. Against Tottenham after 20 minutes they could have led two or three, and against Feyenoord they led 3-0 and dominated.
“It’s still a very, very good team and one of the reasons why I think Pep is the best manager in the world is because he always finds solutions. His problem now is maybe Rodri is away, but we all know he will find a solution and City’s form will hopefully pick up after Sunday.
