Liverpool star suffers injury problem on international duty ahead of Man United
Liverpool’s form suffered in the Premier League before the international break, and Arne Slot would have been thankful for the pause in action.
For the first time since arriving at the club, Slot suffered three defeats in a row after Liverpool were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Reds now enter their clash against Manchester United in second position after being knocked off top spot by Arsenal.
Slot will want all of his players fit for the clash, but unfortunately, one emerging development has cast doubt over a key star.
Ryan Gravenberch is an injury doubt for Man United clash
On Sunday evening, Scotland secured a 3-1 win over Belarus, with captain Andy Robertson grabbing an assist for Scott McTominay.
Meanwhile, fellow Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo were all in action during the Netherlands’ 4-0 thrashing of Finland.
Slot would have been pleased to see Gakpo round off the scoring, but equally worried that Gravenberch was taken off at half-time as a precaution after experiencing some hamstring discomfort.
“Ryan indicated he was experiencing some minor hamstring discomfort,” Koeman told a post-match press conference. “We obviously didn’t take any risks with that.”
Manchester City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders replaced him and produced an outstanding performance in the second period.
Liverpool will now be hoping that the injury to Gravenberch isn’t serious, as he’s an essential cog in Slot’s machine.
How Liverpool could lineup against Man United
Paul Scholes has criticised Liverpool’s midfielders for not reaching the same levels as last season, and Gravenberch is included in that discussion.
Despite scoring in the Merseyside Derby, the 23-year-old hasn’t produced the relentless consistency that supporters have become accustomed to seeing.
Gravenberch was poor against Galatasaray as Liverpool slipped to a 1-0 defeat, and should he miss the Man United clash, he will either be replaced by Curtis Jones in the middle of the park or Dominik Szoboszlai.
The latter option could see Florian Wirtz return to his favoured number 10 position, with Gakpo on the left, Mohamed Salah right and one of Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike up top.