Ryan Gravenberch is not suffering from an injury, despite being left out of Liverpool’s matchday squad against Chelsea.
The midfielder was a surprise exclusion for the Reds’ game at Stamford Bridge – their first since being confirmed as Premier League champions. Gravenberch had started all 34 of Liverpool’s league games beforehand, having established himself in Arne Slot’s midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
All three were left out of the starting line-up against Chelsea though, with Mac Allister and Szoboszlai dropped to the bench, with Slot making six changes from the side that started against Tottenham. Gravenberch though was left out of the squad completely.
Given his flawless availability so far this season, his absence did initially raise concerns that he may have picked up an injury in training.
However, as reported by the Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele, Gravenberch has simply been rested by Slot today, having not traveled down to London with the rest of the Liverpool squad, with no signs of an injury.
Slot makes six changes to his side in total from last weekend’s win over Spurs, which of course confirmed the Reds as champions.
As well as Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz have been afforded a rest.
(Image: 2024 Liverpool FC)
In their places, Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Diogo Jota are handed starts.
The raft of changes comes after Slot promised that he would rotate his squad after the title was wrapped up last weekend, with a number of his fringe players set to get more opportunities over the remaining four games.
“We are going into these four games trying to win them all, of course,” Slot said on Friday. “That’s what what every player who wears the Liverpool shirt should aim for. I would judge us more on the amount of points now compared to teams that won it in the past, four games before the end. There is definitely a difference if now we are still competing.
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“My lineups will be different from what we’ve had mostly during the last 10 months. We’re not going to change everyone but there will be some players that come into the team.
“There will be a certain rotation in the upcoming games. That’s not to say we are going to lose them, we have a lot of trust in the players who are going to play now.
Asked if he is now thinking more towards next season, Slot replied: “This season as well. I think some of them deserved to play earlier because this season because they have trained so well and are good enough to play for this club. But I mainly chose the same players.
“I think this is also a moment to see where they, also looking towards next season a bit already, but also because they deserve to play this season.”
