Liverpool fear loss of Ibrahima Konaté and Conor Bradley to ill-timed injury

Liverpool may have to manage without their defenders Ibrahima Konaté and Conor Bradley when Manchester City comes to town on Sunday. Coach Arne Slot stated that the initial assessments of the injuries they picked up during the match against Real Madrid do not look promising.

Bradley had to leave the match in the 87th minute during Wednesday’s Champions League win due to a hamstring injury, and Konaté hobbled off the field after the game with a knee issue. Both players were evaluated at Liverpool's AXA training facility on Thursday, where Bradley underwent a scan for an injury that might keep him out for several weeks.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool’s top right-back, is ready to play against the struggling Premier League champions after successfully overcoming a hamstring injury.

Slot mentioned, "They're still undergoing evaluations, so it's hard to determine the extent of their injuries. We'll have to wait for more updates, but it's concerning that I had to substitute Conor and that Ibou didn’t leave the field on his own as expected after such a great performance. He should have been able to walk around the pitch and acknowledge the fans, but he wasn’t able to do that."

Bradley performed exceptionally well against the European champions, effectively containing Kylian Mbappé and playing a key role in setting up Alexis Mac Allister’s first goal. Konaté's absence would be a significant setback when facing City, as he and Virgil van Dijk have established a strong partnership in the defense this season.

If Liverpool wins on Sunday, they will have an 11-point lead over City. However, even though Pep Guardiola’s team has been struggling without a win in their last six matches, losing five of those, Slot is still cautious about the danger they can present.

"In the past eight or nine years, I can't recall thinking of City as an easy opponent, whether at home or away," the head coach remarked. "While people tend to focus on their match outcomes, if we take a closer look, you'll see that against Brighton, they led 1-0 and had chances to score two or three more but ended up losing. In their match against Tottenham, they could have been two or three goals ahead after just 20 minutes. And in the game with Feyenoord, they were ahead 3-0 and in complete control."

"They remain an excellent team, and I believe one of the reasons Pep stands out as the top manager globally is his ability to consistently find answers."

"Right now, his challenge could be that Rodri is unavailable, but we all trust he'll find a way to resolve it, and City's performance will improve once more. Fingers crossed for after Sunday!"