Liverpool exorcised some demons in the 2-0 Champions League win over Real Madrid on Wednesday, but it came at a steep cost. Both Conor Bradly and Ibrahima Konaté sustained injuries in the second half, and now both are expected to be sidelined over an extremely busy December.
Konaté revealed he sustained a knee injury after Real Madrid’s Endrick fouled the Frenchman at the very end of the match, with some reports ruling him out for six weeks. Now reports out of Belfast are saying that Conor Bradly will be out for the entire month of December after picking up a hamstring injury in the second half of the match. This is on top of Kostas Tsimikas being hobbled with an ankle injury.
Bradley had been sensational in the match, pocketing Kylian Mbappé defensively and providing great threat going forward. Bradley started the match in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is just returning from his own hamstring woes.
Arne Slot will now need to get creative with a thin defensive unit as the get set to play nine games across three competitions in December. He currently only has five players for the four defensive positions, though Kostas Tsimikas is expected to return shortly.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has returned to full training, but will likely need to have minutes managed to avoid a reaggravation of the hamstring issue that has plagued him much of the fall. Joe Gomez will be the primary cover for Konaté at center back, but may be forced to slide over to right back, meaning young Jarell Quansah will likely be back in the picture for minutes at center back after a rocky start to the season. There is also a chance that someone like Curtis Jones or Wataru Endo could be pressed into service at right back in a pinch. Jones has stepped into that role in the past.