Conor Bradley was a shock omission from the Liverpool squad on Sunday for the potentially title-deciding clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
The defender returned to the team earlier this month after an injury layoff of nearly two months and started the recent wins over West Ham United and Leicester City. He was again expected to feature against Spurs, despite Trent Alexander-Arnold’s return from injury last week.
However, Bradley sustained a knock in training earlier this week and, with Alexander-Arnold available again, the decision was made by the club’s physios to rest the Northern Ireland international altogether.
The injury is the latest setback for Bradley and the fourth different injury issue this season. It also comes just two days after head coach Arne Slot said the defender was getting closer to playing 90 minutes once again.
“It depends on the upcoming two sessions,” Slot said ahead of the game. “He [Bradley] was getting closer and closer to 90 minutes. The first and second [starts since recovering] were around the same amount of minutes.
“It’s normal if you have played twice around 70 minutes, then the chance of you being able to play 90 is getting closer and closer. But we are also taking very good care of him because he had two injuries that were similar.”
But it’s Alexander-Arnold who starts at right-back against Tottenham in a familiar-looking defense alongside Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson. The latter is the second change from last week’s game and comes in to replace Kostas Tsimikas.
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Alisson in nets as expected, while Slot sticks with his preferred midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, meaning there is no room for Curtis Jones in the line-up. In attack, it’s a dangerous front three of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo. There’s no room for Diogo Jota or Darwin Nunez, with Diaz again selected down the middle.
For Tottenham, the visitors to Anfield make eight changes ahead of its midweek Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt. The likes of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison drop out.
Starting XIs
Liverpool : Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Diaz, Gakpo.
Tottenham : Vicario; Spence, Danso, Davies, Udogie; Bergvall, Gray, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Tel.
