Conor Bradley injury worry compounded by Arsenal star's cheap behavior

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Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli shoved Liverpool defender Conor Bradley after he appeared to suffer a series injury at the end of the two side's 0-0 draw on Thursday

Gabriel Martinelli was upset at where Conor Bradley sat following his knee injury(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool defender Conor Bradley appeared to twist his knee in the dying embers of Thursday's match against Arsenal, which ended 0-0 at the Emirates.

The Northern Irish right back attempted to shepherd a long ball out of bounds in stoppage time amid the wet conditions and pouring rain in North London. In doing so, he landed awkwardly and fell down inches from the touchline, writhing in pain and grabbing his knee.

Arsenal — the league leaders by six points over Manchester City and up 14 points on the Reds — was pushing for the win. Winger Gabriel Martinelli assumed Bradley was time-wasting and attempted to push him out of the field of play while Dominik Szoboszlai arrived to counsel Bradley.

Both Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister immediately shoved Martinelli out of the way before players from both teams arrived at the scene of the crime. Pushing and shoving ensued, and both Szoboszlai and Martinelli were shown yellow cards.

Arsenal managed to win a corner off the ensuing throw-in, but Gabriel's header went wide, and the match finished all square. Bradley was eventually stretchered off and replaced by Joe Gomez.

Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai defend Conor Bradley after Gabriel Martinelli shoved him(Image: Getty Images)

Bradley is starting every match at right-back, with Jeremie Frimpong tasked with playing on the wing, with Mohamed Salah away at AFCON and strikers Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike injured. Coach Arne Slot will have an availability crisis on his hands in short order.

Szoboszlai was named Man of the Match and addressed the incident in his post-match interview. "I see that Conor twisted his knee. I don't know what his going on with him," the Hungarian international admitted.

Conor Bradley was stetchered off the pitch in extra time(Image: Getty Images)

"Obviously, he didn't want to come back to the pitch to make it time-wasting for something. He just [was in] so much pain that he couldn't even think where he [was rolling]," Szoboszlai continued.

"And then [Martinelli] comes there to push him off the pitch. I understand that he wants to win, but we want to win as well. I think the health of a player is much more important than anything else."

Szoboszlai wasn't the only one who felt that way. Gary Neville, on commentary for the match on Sky Sports, gave a similar report. "I'm actually fuming with Martinelli," he said.

"Honestly, I don't know how the Liverpool players didn't go over there and whack him, to be honest with you, and take a red card. Absolutely disgraceful, that."

Both clubs will get a respite from Premier League action with the third round of the FA Cup in effect. Liverpool is set to take on Barnsley at Anfield on Monday. The Reds are seeking their first FA Cup triumph since 2022, when the side defeated Chelsea on penalties.