‘Not been easy for him’ – Arne Slot claims one Liverpool player has been ‘unlucky’ this season | OneFootball

Arne Slot has claimed that one Liverpool player has been particularly ‘unlucky’ so far this season.

With Real Madrid at Anfield tonight for the clubs’ latest Champions League showdown, much of the focus will be on Trent Alexander-Arnold as he plays against his former club for the first time since his acrimonious departure just over five months ago.

For the other right-back on the pitch in L4, it’s the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that the Premier League champions can thrive without their former vice-captain.

Conor Bradley starred when Liverpool defeated Los Blancos last season, famously leaving Kylian Mbappe on the Anfield turf after a crunching but fair challenge, although Slot has shone a light on the fitness problems that the 22-year-old has experienced in recent months.

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Slot says Bradley has been ‘unlucky’ not to have played more

Speaking to the press on Monday, the Reds boss said of the Northern Ireland defender (via Liverpool World): “He played very well in that game [v Real Madrid last year] for 80 minutes and then unfortunately he went out with a hamstring injury. That has been his biggest challenge until now.

“We were just talking about Florian [Wirtz] and we can say the same about Conor. Being able to play every three days at this intensity without getting injured, that’s not been easy for him because he missed a big part of pre-season.

“He’s been unlucky maybe by the fact when I started him, a few times we were 1-0 down and I had to make an offensive substitution, so I brought Dominik Szoboszlai to the full-back position. When we were a goal up, he played 90 minutes against Everton and on Saturday.

“He is progressing, getting fitter and fitter and showing the potential he has. The main thing for him will be playing every three days and then like Florian and all of the others adjusting at this moment in time to the programme and fixture list.”

(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Hopefully Bradley can put together a succession of 90-minute games

The right-back position has been one of the most unstable at Liverpool so far this season, with Slot having frequently alternated between Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and even a natural midfielder in Szoboszlai, prompting Chris Sutton to describe the chopping and changing as a ‘mess’.

However, with the Netherlands international currently sidelined and the Hungarian excelling further up the pitch, there’s now a chance for the Reds’ number 12 to make the right-back berth his own over the next few weeks – if he can avoid a recurrence of the fitness problems which have dogged him.

Since injuring his hamstring against Real Madrid 12 months ago, the 22-year-old has had three separate absences which have ruled him out of 22 matches for club and country (Transfermarkt).

Although Bradley has made 12 appearances in the current campaign, the Aston Villa game on Saturday was only the second time that he’s played a full match, the other being the Merseyside derby win in September that Slot referenced (Transfermarkt).

Frimpong is not due back from injury for another month, with his fellow right-back now having the opportunity to start the next half-dozen Liverpool games uncontested, so long as misfortune doesn’t strike yet again.