Bradley Barcola's Liverpool Start Stalls Due to Injury Setback

Bradley Barcola arrived at Liverpool with the usual weight of expectation that trails a big summer signing. Three games, no goals, and then a grimace in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid. An hour into that tie, his night – and his early momentum – stopped.

Now comes the next setback: his first injury of the season.

The French winger, brought in to add directness and unpredictability on the left, will not be involved in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup third-round clash with Tottenham. Andoni Iraola drew a clear line under any optimism on the eve of the tie.

“He is not ready to train with the team yet. He is training on his own, but he has started to touch the ball. We want him back as soon as possible,” Iraola said, speaking to Foot Mercato.

So there is a ball at his feet again. But there is also a clock ticking.

“He still has some time to recover, and it will take a while,” Iraola added. “With all these long-term injuries, I think (Giovanni) Leoni has a slight edge over him.”

That last point cuts through the usual polite injury updates. While Barcola works alone, others are moving ahead in the queue. Leoni, battling his own way back from a long-term issue, is now seen as marginally closer to a full return than the former Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain man.

For Barcola, it sharpens the challenge. A new league, a new club, a slow start, and now enforced time on the sidelines while teammates build rhythm and relationships without him.

Liverpool’s schedule will not wait. Tottenham in the cup, league fixtures piling up, European nights demanding fresh legs and sharp minds. The plan had been for Barcola to grow into those occasions, to stretch defences and offer a different angle from the left.

Instead, his first real task is more basic: get fit, stay fit, and make sure that when his chance finally comes, he is no longer the one chasing from behind.