Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas are both absent from Liverpool’s squad for today’s Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace at Wembley.
Gravenberch is eligible to feature in the season curtain-raiser but has been left out after welcoming his first child on Saturday. The midfielder is already suspended for Friday’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth following a red card on the final day of last season, and Arne Slot has opted to give him the day off.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of kick-off, Slot said: “Ryan Gravenberch became a dad last night.”
Tsimikas also misses out, with summer signing Milos Kerkez starting at left-back and Andy Robertson named among the substitutes. The Greece international has been reportedly linked with a move away from Anfield, with Nottingham Forest among the clubs said to be showing interest.
As expected, the Reds are without Conor Bradley, who is sidelined with a minor knock, and Joe Gomez, who is recovering from an Achilles problem suffered during pre-season.
Four of Liverpool’s summer signings, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz, start this afternoon, and Slot admitted he expects a big test against the FA Cup holders.
Ideally you want to play the best possible game you can play. But we also know how difficult it is to play that game against Palace because they are here for a reason: they beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final and Manchester City in the final. And at the end of the season, Arsenal and us were not able to win against them in our own stadiums.
Advertisement“We know how good or how smart it is to keep the team together because that’s what we did last season and we know the end result. Palace has exactly the same team playing for them today that played for them throughout almost the whole of last season. So, a big challenge ahead of us.
Liverpool’s starting XI includes Alisson Becker in goal, Virgil van Dijk back from illness, and Mohamed Salah leading the attack alongside Cody Gakpo and debutant Ekitike. Sixteen-year-old Rio Ngumoha is among the substitutes after an impressive pre-season.
