Liverpool given simultaneous injury hope and fear after official announcement on Thursday | OneFootball

One piece of news which was confirmed on Thursday could be greeted with enthusiasm or worry by Liverpool, depending on their disposition.

Even with the Reds just one match into the new Premier League season, Arne Slot has already had to contend with several injury issues, particularly in defence.

Joe Gomez left the pre-season tour to Asia for treatment on an Achilles problem (from which he’s now recovered), while Conor Bradley has missed the start to the campaign, and the LFC head coach has confirmed that Jeremie Frimpong will be out for the upcoming games against Newcastle and Arsenal.

Bradley included in Northern Ireland squad

At lunchtime on Thursday, the official X profile of the Northern Ireland national team announced the squad for their two matches in September, a World Cup qualifying double header against Luxembourg and Germany.

Liverpool fans will have immediately noticed the inclusion of Bradley despite him being sidelined for our recent games against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, with Michael O’Neill seemingly banking on the 22-year-old being fit for next month’s international break.

(Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Liverpool already enduring an injury crisis at right-back

Some Reds supporters may be concerned at seeing the right-back being called up for national team duty when he hasn’t been in action for his club, perhaps fearing that he could be rushed back from his hamstring problem too soon.

Conversely, his inclusion in the Northern Ireland squad may also point to the Tyrone native being close to making a full recovery from the issue which has delayed his start to the season.

It’s unclear exactly when Bradley will be available for Liverpool again, although Slot stated in his press conference this afternoon that the defender briefly trained with the squad on Thursday (Liverpool Echo).

The Newcastle game will surely come too soon for the 22-year-old, and with Frimpong out and Gomez potentially not ready to start, it might leave the Reds boss having to deploy someone out of position at right-back, most likely Dominik Szoboszlai.

Fingers crossed that our longest-serving current player will be able to line out at St James’ Park on Monday, and that it won’t be much longer until Bradley is back in action.