“Fingers crossed…” – Arne Slot hints at possible Liverpool comeback from injury this week

Arne Slot is optimistic about one of Liverpool’s players returning from injury in the coming week.

The Reds are largely at full strength during a hectic stretch, with four games in 10 days. The main senior absentees remain Giovanni Leoni (ACL), Conor Bradley, and Jeremie Frimpong. According to Lewis Steele, Frimpong is “back on the grass” and targeting a return in around two weeks, while Bradley could be ready even sooner.

In his pre-Sunderland press conference, Slot provided updates on the two right-backs.

He said (via Liverpool Echo):
“Conor joined a full training session yesterday for the first time. He isn’t 100% yet, so we need to manage him—don’t get your hopes up too soon. We expect the same with Jeremie next week. Unfortunately, with so many games, he’ll miss a few. Hopefully Conor is available for Leeds [on Saturday].”

With Bradley and Frimpong unavailable for tomorrow’s clash, Joe Gomez is expected to start at right-back, having impressed in the role during the 2-0 win over West Ham. If Conor isn’t fit for Leeds, the experienced Gomez could handle three games in a week, despite limited action this season outside the Carabao Cup.

Bradley seems close to a timely return during this busy period, with Frimpong likely to follow soon. Frimpong could even fill in on the right side of attack once Mo Salah leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations on 15 December.

Liverpool will be hoping both players stay injury-free once back, as they’ve struggled with fitness recently. Bradley has missed 59 games since the start of 2023/24, while Frimpong has already had two injury spells since joining from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.

Here’s hoping neither sees their absence tally increase before the season ends.