Overlooked Liverpool player could finally rejoin the squad after 1,113 days, with two teammates sidelined for up to three weeks
Arne Slot will be weighing up his limited choices carefully.
Full-back is often labelled the simplest role on the pitch, yet Liverpool’s right side has been anything but straightforward this season—and the problems have only grown. Both senior right-back options are unavailable as the Reds resume after the international break, a nightmare scenario for a team that has lost five of their last six Premier League games.
Slot knew long before now that Jeremie Frimpong wouldn’t make it for the Nottingham Forest trip. The summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen is still two or three weeks away from returning, having already missed five matches. But the real setback has come with Conor Bradley. After impressing in recent weeks—most notably in the 1-0 win over Real Madrid—the Northern Ireland defender has been ruled out again after another injury blow. This marks the fourth time under Slot that Bradley has been sidelined. The manager has already confirmed he will miss the next seven games in just 22 days. Liverpool suddenly have a major headache.
Slot has floated the idea of using makeshift right-backs in Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, or Joe Gomez. But Gomez has hardly played regular football in the past year and naturally prefers centre-back. Szoboszlai has done well when covering the role—his performance in the 1-0 win over Arsenal stands out—but he’s also been Liverpool’s outstanding midfielder this season, making it a big sacrifice to shift him.
Realistically, Jones seems the frontrunner. He excelled in the role during last season’s Merseyside derby win over Everton.
Still, with Bradley, Wirtz, Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni all out, Slot’s already-trimmed squad is stretched. Aside from third-choice keeper Freddie Woodman, Liverpool look set to have just 18 available players.
Teenager Trey Nyoni is expected to help fill the bench after being spotted in training. And many fans would prefer to see Calvin Ramsay named among the substitutes instead of Woodman, backing up Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Ramsay had become something of a forgotten figure since joining from Aberdeen in 2022 for up to £4.2 million. His progress has been derailed by injuries and unproductive loan spells at Preston, Bolton, Wigan and Kilmarnock, leaving him back with the under-21s this summer.
His surprise re-emergence came in last month’s Carabao Cup tie against Crystal Palace, where he made just his third senior appearance and was seen by many as Liverpool’s standout performer in the 3-0 defeat. However, he hasn’t featured since—missing out against Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City.
With the under-21s not in action again until January and a gap opening in the senior squad, Ramsay could now come back into consideration. He hasn’t been named in a Premier League squad since the 2-1 win over Tottenham on 6 November 2022—almost three full years ago.