Our Take: Liverpool Are Right Not to Risk Gravenberch in Istanbul

We like the look of this decision. Ryan Gravenberch will not be involved when Liverpool travel to Turkey to face Fenerbahce in the Champions League, and rather than treat that as alarming news, we think supporters should see it as exactly the sort of caution a title-chasing squad needs in November. The Dutch midfielder has been nursing a heel complaint that flared up around the Arsenal game, and he has stayed back at the AXA Training Centre rather than get on the plane.

Pain management, not panic

Andoni Iraola was straightforward about it when he spoke to the press. His description was of a day to day issue built around discomfort rather than a serious structural problem, and he stopped short of ruling Gravenberch out of the weekend fixture entirely. That tells us this is a precaution rather than a crisis, and clubs with European football to juggle alongside a packed domestic calendar have to make exactly these calls if they want bodies available in the new year rather than just November.

Nyoni gets his chance

The upside of all this is that Trey Nyoni already has a taste of what is coming. He started in central midfield against Arsenal while Gravenberch watched from the bench, and whatever happens in Istanbul, that experience will matter later in the campaign. We would rather see a young midfielder tested now, with cover already arranged, than have Liverpool scrambling for options in a must win game further down the line.

Nine points from nine says plenty

It also helps that Liverpool arrive in this form. Wins over Atletico Madrid and Villarreal either side of an emphatic result away at LASK have left them with a perfect record from their first three group matches, one of only a handful of sides who can say that. A trip to a new opponent always carries a bit of unknown, but with that platform behind them, resting one midfielder for the trip is a risk Liverpool can afford to take.

Expect Gravenberch to be reassessed before the weekend, and expect Iraola to lean on the depth he has built rather than force a half fit player back into a European away game that was never going to define the season either way.