Conor Bradley injured: Liverpool defender misses rest of season with serious knee injury sustained at Arsenal | Soccer News

Liverpool defender Conor Bradley will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a serious knee injury in Thursday’s goalless draw against Arsenal.

Bradley will undergo surgery in the coming days to repair the bone and ligament damage, but not the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Bradley will miss Northern Ireland’s World Cup play-off match against Italy in March, but it is unclear whether he will be fit for this summer’s World Cup if Michael O’Neill’s side make it through the play-offs.

Liverpool have revealed that there is still “no deadline set” for the 22-year-old’s return.

Bradley’s injury was confirmed after Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli was carried off on a stretcher after pushing a defender who was lying injured on the ground.

Martinelli was cautioned by referee Anthony Taylor after the winger’s behavior in stoppage time was widely criticized and sparked the ire of Liverpool players.

However, the Brazilian apologized for his actions on social media after the match, and it is believed the matter will be dealt with, as Mr Taylor saw it at the time, avoiding further punishment from the Football Association.

Martinelli returned to action in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round on Sunday. After the match, Mikel Arteta praised Arne Slott’s response to the incident, but he did not blame the forward.

“I have to say that the way Arne Slott spoke after the game was great. He knows how the players feel about themselves and how they feel about their colleagues.”

“That’s someone who knows the game well and knows how players react in certain ways. There was no intention to harm the players or disrespect the players.”

Bradley played in 21 games this season, but missed many games with a hamstring issue.

This leaves Reds head coach Arne Slott with cover in Jeremy Frimpong, who has had his own injury problems since joining from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, and Joe Gomez, who has just returned from a hamstring problem himself, but neither is a true right-back.

Slott has had to use midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones in this position this season.

Keene: That behavior is absolutely disgraceful.

Sky Sports’ Roy Keane criticized Martinelli’s actions, calling it “absolutely disgraceful”.

“It’s not good. We know football and the players are good players,” he said.

“I threw him the ball, I stood over him and gave him a little knee bump. He tried to force him off.

“That act is absolutely disgraceful. He’s a good kid to turn himself over. Hopefully Martinelli sees that and hopefully he apologizes for it. That’s not a good thing.”

Daniel Sturridge added: “It’s disappointing. You have passion and you want to be a winner and you want to help your teammates, but as a footballer you have to be respectful.”

“It’s never a good feeling to be injured. Martinelli thinks he’s wasting his time, but you have to be aware enough to see him drop. He’s been in that situation before.

“That’s rude. It’s probably worse than rude.”

‘Liverpool players’ reaction saves Martinelli’

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher speaks on Sky Sports News’ Ref Watch:

“If the players leave it alone, it will be easier for the referee to deal with Martinelli. When everyone else is involved, everything else will be strengthened.

“I think what Martinelli is doing is being diluted, and I think in many ways they’re helping him stay on the field.”

As for whether Martinelli should have received retroactive punishment, he said: “I don’t think so.

“He was given a yellow card for his actions. If the players leave it to the referee, he will deal with a different situation. When everyone is together, he has to check on everyone else.”

“I don’t think it was enough (to give a red card) yet.”