Defender Conor Bradley is set to undergo surgery on a serious knee injury which will rule him out of the rest of Liverpool's season.
While the Northern Ireland international has not sustained an ACL injury, there is damage to the bone and ligaments in his left knee which is understood to be a "significant" injury.
The right-back, who was carried off late in Thursday's goalless draw at Premier League leaders Arsenal, will have an operation in the coming days which will rule him out of the remainder of the domestic campaign.
That will, however, leave Bradley in a race to recover in time for this summer’s World Cup should Northern Ireland qualify through the play-offs, with Italy and potentially the winners of Wales and Bosnia Herzegovina standing in their way.
Liverpool said Bradley had "sustained a significant knee injury", adding in a statement: "No timeframe is being placed on his return to playing at this stage of the process."
Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli apologised for shoving Bradley off the pitch as he lay on the turf in the closing stages of the match at the Emirates.
Bradley had made 21 appearances this season having missed a number of matches with a hamstring problem.
The Bradley injury sparked an immediate furore on the night itself, when Arsenal's Garbiel Martinelli threw a ball at the Liverpool full-back and sought to shove him off the pitch, accusing the Tyrone man of time-wasting.
This triggered a flashpoint which resulted in Martinelli and Ibrahima Konate both being shown yellow cards The Brazilian subsequently apologised to Bradley in a social media post, saying he was "deeply sorry" over the incident.
It leaves head coach Arne Slot with Jeremie Frimpong, who has had his own injury problems since joining from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, and Joe Gomez, himself only just returning from a hamstring issue, as cover but neither can be considered a genuine right-back.
Slot has had to utilise midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones in the position this season.
