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By DOMINIC KING Published: 20: 25 AEDT, 21 November 2025 | Updated: 22: 36 AEDT, 21 November 2025 38 View comments Liverpool have a right-back crisis as they enter a critical stage of the season with Arne Slot also reeling from an injury to Florian Wirtz. Though Slot has Alisson Becker, his influential goalkeeper, fit again and available for selection against Nottingham Forest following a six-week absence, his squad has been stretched to the limit by an injury to Conor Bradley. Bradley had started Liverpool's last five matches but was substituted at half-time during Northern Ireland's 1-0 win against Luxembourg on Monday with what Slot called 'a muscular issue'. When pressed on what had happened, Slot revealed it would be 'a miracle' if Bradley was available for any of the seven games Liverpool have in the next 22 days and the head coach is not making plans to include him. It is a huge blow for Bradley, who had been outstanding in the 1-0 win against Real Madrid earlier this month, but it also presents a major issue for Slot, as Jeremie Frimpong is also sidelined with a hamstring issue. That means Slot is going to either have to deploy Curtis Jones or Dominik Szoboszlai in defence for the visit of Forest or turn to Joe Gomez, who as a precaution did not train with Liverpool's squad on Thursday. Northern Ireland captain Conor Bradley has been ruled out for the match at Anfield and is facing a longer spell on the sidelines Arne Slot has also revealed that Liverpool will be without Florian Wirtz for Saturday's clash against Nottingham Forest 'They both have muscle injuries, ' said Slot. 'I don't expect Conor to be part of the upcoming 22 days, maybe at the end, unless a miracle happens. 'Florian should be able to play (soon)… that shouldn't be so long. Jeremie is out just as well, he is not going to be able for the next two or three weeks so it will be interesting to see who is the right full-back. ' Wirtz has had a difficult start to his career on Merseyside since his £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen and this setback could not have happened at a worse moment for the Germany international. It presents Slot with a significant headache as he must consider taking Szoboszlai – Liverpool's best player of the campaign – out of midfield to use him at right-back or leaving the Hungarian where he is in midfield, to ensure creativity and energy is not lost. 'Dominik is doing really well in every position, ' said Slot. 'Curtis Jones played there last season as well. Joe Gomez can play there as well but he has played I think two times 90 minutes in the whole calendar year so it is a bit of a risk. 'He missed the training session yesterday as well. The good thing is we have good players available, maybe one or two of them have to play in positions they don't usually do. If Alisson is ready to play, then he will start. '
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