Liverpool suffer Trent Alexander-Arnold injury setback ahead of Carabao Cup final

The Liverpool vice-captain has aggravated an existing knee problem and is set to miss several weeks

Liverpool have suffered an injury blow for the Carabao Cup final with Trent Alexander-Arnold ruled out of the clash with Chelsea and set to miss several weeks.

The right-back aggravated an existing knee problem which had ruled him out for three weeks in January, putting Conor Bradley in line to start at Wembley on 25 February.

No date has yet been put on Alexander-Arnold’s probable return and it remains to be seen if he will be fit for the top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City on 10 March.

Alexander-Arnold came off at half-time in Saturday’s 3-1 win against Burnley, the second start of his comeback, after complaining of discomfort. Curtis Jones played right-back then, with the ill Joe Gomez and Bradley both absent.

Bradley returned to training this week after being on compassionate leave following the death of his father. The Northern Ireland international has not played since his man-of-the-match display against Chelsea, when he scored one goal and made two more in a 4-1 win.

However, Liverpool should be able to welcome back Gomez and Alisson, who both missed the Burnley game, against Brentford on Saturday while Mohamed Salah, who has had a hamstring injury, is back in training.