Leeds United are set to host Liverpool at Elland Road this weekend, and several are backing the home side to pull off another upset on Saturday.
The Whites scored a brilliant 3-1 win against Chelsea at home on Wednesday night. Gabriel Gudmundsson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha are some of the stars who showed up at Elland Road.
Leeds are looking to take that confidence into the next game, where Liverpool are set to travel to Elland Road to take on Daniel Farke’s men on Saturday.
Liverpool have been struggling for form and consistency. However, Slot is set to welcome a key player back into the team, which could make a huge difference to how they play.
Conor Bradley is set to return to the Liverpool team to face Leeds United
Conor Bradley leapfrogged summer signing Jeremie Frimpong to become the first-choice right-back this season due to his superior defensive abilities.
He is nowhere close to the quality that Trent Alexander-Arnold was. However, he is far more defensively secure than Frimpong.
However, Bradley has missed the last three Premier League games due to a hamstring injury. Arne Slot has revealed that he is set to return to the team after training this week.
It will be a huge boost as Slot has been forced to shoehorn midfielders into the right-back slot in Bradley’s absence in the last few weeks.
“Joe Gomez got a knock against West Ham but was able to play versus Sunderland and should be able to train again today”, Slot said in a press conference.
“Conor Bradley has trained this week and should be available in the squad.”
How will his return change Liverpool?
Liverpool were struggling even when Bradley was fit and playing. However, in his absence, Slot was forced to chop-and-change his team.
| Competition | Premier League | Champions League | EFL Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 9 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| Assists | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Minutes | 532 | 221 | 33 | 786 |
Dominik Szoboszlai has often been shifted to the right to compensate for the lack of a natural right-back, and even Curtis Jones has been deployed in that area of the pitch.
Bradley’s return will at least give Slot the option to play a right-back in that position while he tries to solve the team’s defensive and midfield frailties.
Liverpool spent more than £400m on new players. However, Slot has struggled to find ways to get them playing like a coherent team this season.
Florian Wirtz scored his first goal for the club against Sunderland in the 1-1 draw. However, Liverpool are still finding it hard to slot him into the team.
Bradley’s return will fix one big problem in the team. However, Leeds have enough ammunition to ensure Liverpool’s search for form continues at Elland Road this weekend.
