Ryan Gravenberch has a fractured heel, misses Fenerbahce, and Iraola won’t promise he makes Palace

Ryan Gravenberch has a fractured heel, and Andoni Iraola can’t say whether the midfielder will be back for Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace.

The Dutchman was left out of the 22-man Liverpool squad that flew to Istanbul on Tuesday morning for Wednesday evening’s Champions League game against Fenerbahce. He stays behind at the AXA Training Centre, where the club’s medical staff are treating him.

We had him back in midfield in our Liverpool predicted lineup vs Fenerbahce, but the heel problem Iraola first mentioned after the Arsenal game has turned out to be a fracture.

What is Ryan Gravenberch’s injury?

It’s a fracture of the heel, and the issue is how much pain he can play through. Gravenberch first felt it before the 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal on Sunday, when he sat on the bench and was never brought on.

Iraola explained at his pre-match press conference in Istanbul: “It’s a fracture of the heel. It’s about the pain. He has been with some discomfort. The other day against Arsenal he was warming up and he was not fully confident. He hasn’t improved since then.”

Will he be fit for Crystal Palace?

Nobody knows yet, Iraola included. Asked whether Gravenberch could return for the Premier League trip to Selhurst Park on Sunday 8 November, the head coach said: “I don’t know, it’s a day-to-day thing.”

He went on: “It’s going to be something that every day we ask him, every day we see how he is. If he can be available for the weekend, lovely, he would be a very good help for us. But I cannot tell you right now.”

The timing matters. The Crystal Palace game is Liverpool’s last before the November international break, so if the heel doesn’t settle by Sunday, the break gives him extra time to recover without missing much more club football. Palace will be without Jean-Philippe Mateta for that one, as we covered in our Crystal Palace vs Hoffenheim preview.

Nyoni gets the nod again

The obvious winner is Trey Nyoni. The 19-year-old started alongside Alexis Mac Allister against Arsenal, and Iraola left no doubt about how he sees him.

“He is playing most of the games, or even all the games lately, so we trust him,” Iraola said. “He is doing very well and I think we have to encourage him to continue, to continue improving, continue learning, continue adding experience. He is in a very good place.”

The Reds boss also spoke about managing the workload of his young players, naming Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas, and said they are adding important games and minutes. Dominik Szoboszlai, back from injury against Arsenal, is the other option in there, so Liverpool are not short of bodies in the middle, just experience.

Liverpool’s injury list keeps growing

Gravenberch joins a long list. Jeremie Frimpong has a new muscle injury, and Iraola has already admitted it will be difficult to have him back before the international break. That leaves Liverpool without a senior right-back who is fit and available, because Conor Bradley is still recovering from the knee injury he suffered in January.

Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) and Giovanni Leoni (knee) are the other long-term absentees. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo can’t play in Istanbul either, as neither was named in Liverpool’s league phase squad.

The good news is that Liverpool head to Turkiye with three wins from three in the league phase, against Atletico Madrid, LASK and Villarreal, and 12 goals scored. Fenerbahce, now under interim head coach Dirk Kuyt, are still looking for their first win in the competition and are without Nathan Ake and Marco Asensio.

Can Liverpool cope without Gravenberch?

For one night in Istanbul, yes. Nyoni has earned the shirt, Mac Allister is fit and Szoboszlai is back. The worry is the bigger picture. Liverpool lost the Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal game without a shot on target, and Iraola himself said his side have done better in Europe and the Carabao Cup than in the league so far.

A heel fracture that is managed by pain rather than a fixed timeframe can drag on. Our view: don’t rush him for Palace. Gravenberch is too important to the way Iraola wants to control games, and a rest over the international break is a far smaller price than a setback that runs into December.