Bradley ruled out for the remaining season for Liverpool as Slot vows to go strong against Barnsley in FA Cup.
When Liverpool hosts Barnsley in the third round on Monday, Arne Slot has vowed not to repeat last season’s FA Cup risk against Plymouth. Conor Bradley is one player he will not be able to choose, though, as it has been revealed that the right-back will need surgery to repair the knee injury he sustained in Thursday’s goalless draw with Arsenal, which will probably keep him out for the remainder of the season.
“Last season I made the decision that some players needed to rest in the FA Cup because you cannot play every player every single time,” Slot said. “But it’s obvious that we’re not in the League Cup anymore and the FA Cup has always been very important for us, but sometimes in a season where you are still competing for the League Cup, for the Champions League and the league, with the amount of players we had last season and have this season, you have to make choices.
“But I can guarantee you that on Monday you will see all the players you saw against Arsenal, maybe with some substitutions, but then they will be on the bench. So that’s going to be different than last season against Plymouth.”
“We all know in cup competitions things can happen, but you cannot compare Plymouth away with the players we played back then to Barnsley at home,” said the head coach. “I was just informed the last time Barnsley played against us they beat us in 2008 in our stadium. We take them very seriously. As we took Plymouth as well, and people would argue that if they look at the lineup.
“But then I again have to tell them why we did this, and why did we play the League Cup against Crystal Palace with the players we’ve played. That is because if we had played Virgil [van Dijk] and these players again maybe I would have missed out on them against Arsenal as well.”