Liverpool's Injury Update: Key Players Set to Return

Liverpool’s thin squad has been handed a rare dose of good news: three long‑term absentees are now expected to play a meaningful part in the season.

In a campaign where the transfer window closed without a right-sided winger, a new midfielder or a specialist right-back, that matters. The squad is set. It isn’t secure.

The club explored late solutions. There was a late push to prise Malo Gusto from Chelsea on loan, a move that would have offered cover both at right-back and in central areas. Chelsea stood firm, unwilling to sanction an easy exit, and Liverpool were left with what they already had – and what they hoped would return.

Now, according to The Times, there is light on the horizon. Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley are all expected to play a “chunk” of the season once they finally emerge from the treatment room.

That word carries weight at Anfield right now.

All three have been out for an extended spell. Ekitike’s lay-off is the most recent, yet his absence still stretches back to April. Bradley has been sidelined since the turn of the year. Leoni has not featured since last September, close to a full year out of contention.

These are not minor setbacks. They are the kind of serious injuries that blur medical timetables and cloud expectations. No one inside or outside the club can say with certainty what condition they will be in when they step back onto the pitch. Their first games back may simply mark the start of a long road to full sharpness rather than an instant solution to Liverpool’s depth problems.

That is why the suggestion that each could still contribute a substantial portion of the campaign feels so significant. It hints at more than a token appearance here and there. It hints at weeks, perhaps months, where they are genuinely available, and in one or two cases potentially influential.

Player Updates

Leoni appears closest to a return and should soon be back in the selection conversation, though Liverpool are expected to handle him with care after such a lengthy absence. Ekitike’s timeline looks longer; his comeback may not gather pace until around Christmas, yet the expectation remains that he will feature before the season is out.

Bradley is the great unknown. Information on his situation has been scarce, the extent of his problem and the realism of any comeback date both shrouded in uncertainty. Liverpool’s late attempt to recruit a right-back hardly screamed confidence in his short-term availability.

Even so, The Times’ indication that Bradley, too, could still play a significant part in the season changes the mood. For a squad stretched across multiple fronts and short in key areas, that single word – “chunk” – suddenly sounds like a lifeline.