Liverpool right-back crisis: Conor Bradley injury leaves big hole that needs filling – should January transfer plans change? | Football News

Liverpool have had defensive issues all season. Fitness, form and misfortune have all played their part. And now options across the backline are scarily thin.

Conor Bradley is the latest addition to the injury list after suffering season-ending knee ligament damage against Arsenal last week. He’s only managed 12 Premier League starts and now will not feature again for Liverpool until 2026/27.

Summer signing Giovanni Leoni was lost to injury before the campaign even kicked into gear while Joe Gomez has been in and out of the treatment room for the best part of a year. Jeremie Frimpong, less a defender by trade but necessity, has missed spells too.

All this amounts to a headache for Arne Slot, particularly in the right-back position. Bradley was schooled to be Trent Alexander-Arnold’s natural successor, a player with less innate flair but better defensive instincts, having already proved himself against the best in big games.

There have been a few GIF-worthy moments. His perfectly timed tackle to dispossess Kylian Mbappe in full flow and pocketing of Vinicius Junior in a subsequent meeting with Real Madrid both attested to his readiness. For his season to end this way feels particularly cruelly-timed.

And for Liverpool, it’s yet another major blow without the requisite cover. Bradley was deemed integral to the smooth running of Slot’s operation from here on out, and with so many games on the horizon (potentially 12 between now and the end of February), the need for a quick solution is obvious.

What options are currently on the table?

Trust Gomez at right-back

Considering Gomez’s patchy injury record, to be playing back up in three different positions feels like a major gamble. Gomez is the only legitimate cover for both Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, should either be unavailable, and also the stand-in right-back.

The 28-year-old has many attributes, but availability is not one of them. Since the start of this season Gomez has only managed 90 minutes three times. He’s made nine Premier League starts over the last 18 months, amounting to 767 minutes in total. Mr Reliability he is not.

What Gomez does offer is 1v1 solidity and exceptional versatility. When fit, he shows impressive athleticism, with an ability to cover roles across the whole back line and contribute going forwards.

Small sample size, but Liverpool are yet to concede a goal when Gomez has started at right-back in the Premier League this season and he’s averaging more touches in the opposition box than any other option.

But faith in Gomez is equally hindered by his absence. Slot knows his limits all too well. So, if that’s only a partial remedy, what are some other fixes worth considering?

Frimpong to play dual role

The problem with playing Frimpong at full-back is that he is not one. That was not his territory at Bayer Leverkusen. Hamstring issues aside, the 25-year-old is not equipped with the defensive mindset needed to play in a back four. Konate’s chequered season does not help the right-sided vulnerability either.

From week to week, Frimpong in this position is an experimental risk dependant on the level of opponent. “I liked him again today,” Slot said after beating League One side Barnsley on Monday. Contrast that with the start of Liverpool’s dreadful downturn back in September, and Slot was blaming Frimpong for being “too offensive” in defeat at Crystal Palace.

No doubt the narrative will continue to fluctuate. Frimpong is a player designed to be moving forwards, not tracking back. Liverpool unlock games more effectively when he plays and Slot likes his “pure individual ability” and raw pace; all attacking attributes.

The manager’s concluding soundbite from the win over Barnsley should serve as the guiding principle on Frimpong at full-back in the future: “I have to manage it in the right way.” Even more apparent when Mohamed Salah returns from AFCON demanding the luxury of no defensive work.

Rotate between non-full-backs

Slot has had to utilise midfielders as emergency cover this season, to varying degrees of success.

Both Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones have fallen victim. What Slot is gaining from selecting central midfielders at full-back, though, is not balanced by what is being taken away. This is a stop-gap measure, far from a long-term solution. Opponents know this and began targeting the wide space a midfielder playing out of position inevitability offered.

Every week cannot be a new voyage of discovery. Across Liverpool’s recent 11-game unbeaten run, which now stretches back to November in all competitions, Slot has opted to start Gomez four times, Bradley five, and Frimpong twice (not surprisingly against bottom club Wolves and Barnsley). No midfielder in sight, though.

The gloss-over approach has surely met its natural end.

Sign Guehi – or someone else?

And that brings us neatly to the final option: sign someone.

Liverpool’s stance is that if top targets become available they will be alert and responsive. Plenty of clubs use the purposefully ambiguous phrase ‘market opportunity’ when asked if business is likely in January, because trading is notoriously harder in this window.

This gives the illusion they are open to spending if not the certainty fans want to hear. It’s a polite way of keeping powder dry.

Liverpool believe Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi could be used at right-back in a backline that becomes a situational back three when they go forward, but will only be pushed to sign Guehi if others step up their pursuit. He becomes a free agent in June, but perhaps, against the current climate, a more proactive approach is required.

High full-backs have always been a hallmark of Liverpool’s style, it’s the reason they signed Milos Kerkez in the summer. Finding an acceptable balance of risk and reward has proved tough, though, despite heavy investment.

The Liverpool board are unlikely to respond to this season’s setbacks with a knee-jerk response but must consider what they want out of the current campaign. If trophies remain an ambition they may not have much choice.

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