Liverpool star 'could miss key chunk of season' as new Ibrahima Konate injury theory emerges

Liverpool fear that Conor Bradley will be a period of their season.

The right-back was forced off in the closing stages of the Reds’ 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League earlier this week. Bradley had been excellent throughout the Anfield encounter, nullifying the threat of Kylian Mbappe and assisting Alexis Mac Allister’s opening goal. But the 21-year-old limped out of the contest in the 88th minute with a suspected hamstring injury.

Liverpool prepare for a seismic showdown against Manchester City in the Premier League title race on Sunday. The Reds are eight points clear of the current champions and that gap will stretch to 11 with a victory. Bradley will continue to be assessed ahead of the game, along with Ibrahima Konate who was in discomfort leaving the pitch at full-time. But according to the Times, Liverpool are concerned that Bradley is set for a spell on the treatment table.

Meanwhile, it has been suggested that Konate could also miss the City game. On X, account @physioscout has analysed the France international’s issue he suffered in the closing stages of the Madrid game. It has been suggested that Konate was hurt when Los Blancos forward Endrick fell on him and could have resulted in an MCL issue.

A post from the account said: “Ibrahima Konate was injured late in the game between Liverpool and Real Madrid. This mechanism brings concern for an MCL injury. Contact from outside of the knee causes an inward force to Konate's right leg. Hoping secondary damage to the ACL is avoided (unlikely here). Sometimes the mechanism may stress the ankle, however, it seemed like Konate was having issues with the knee. The other possibility is a high ankle sprain.

“Potential recovery time: Grade 1: 1-2 weeks. Grade 2: 3-6 weeks Grade 3: 6-10 weeks. Based on the video, it may seem like he will miss some time out. Scans will be needed in order to confirm this. Physio was seen doing tests on the right knee, which would confirm our suspicions. Extremely limited video, however, it seemed to happen when Endrick fell into Konate on the last play of the game.”