Conor Bradley injury update: Arne Slot delivers worrying news after Liverpool defender is carried off on a stretcher

 

 

The defender went down near the touchline late in a drab goalless draw, holding his knee. While he lay on the turf, Martinelli dropped the ball onto Bradley and attempted to drag him up from the bench to restart play. Gary Neville condemned the act as “absolutely disgraceful” and wondered why no Liverpool player stepped in more aggressively.

Speaking afterwards, Arne Slot took a more measured view. He described Martinelli as a good character and suggested the moment may have stemmed from frustration over perceived time-wasting. “There’s so much pretending in football that players sometimes lose patience,” Slot said. “I’m certain that if he’d known how serious the injury might be, he would never have behaved like that. If Conor has suffered the injury we fear, it doesn’t look good.”

Bradley was later stretchered off and replaced by Joe Gomez, Liverpool’s only substitution of the match. Mikel Arteta also backed Martinelli, stressing there was no malice and that the winger was unaware of the severity of the injury. “Anyone who knows Gabi knows he’s kind and genuine,” Arteta said. “He probably didn’t understand what had happened. I’ll speak to him, but it’s likely he didn’t realise the situation at the time.”