Barring a few brief minutes at the end of the 3-1 Premier League win at Wolves five days earlier, little had been seen of Ryan Gravenberch over the previous 12 months or so.
Having barely featured for Bayern Munich during a difficult debut season with the Bundesliga side, the Holland international almost snuck in under the radar when moving to Liverpool for around £35million on summer transfer deadline day. With most Reds calling for a new defensive midfielder, it perhaps wasn’t the deal many had anticipated. And while a midfield overhaul was long overdue – and necessary with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho following James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out the door – there was a nagging doubt. Was Gravenberch actually the type of player Liverpool needed for this season?
Gravenberch had long been on the Liverpool radar from when he was being regarded a generational talent by the youth set-up at Ajax, the Reds among those considering a possible move before Bayern swooped in the summer of last year. The 21-year-old, though, started only six games in Germany, a total he has already surpassed during his formative Anfield career.
His full Reds debut came in the opening Europa League group game at tonight’s opponents LASK just over two months ago, when Gravenberch announced himself with an impressive assist for Luis Diaz to score Liverpool’s second in a 3-1 victory. It was a first real glimpse of what the Dutchman is all about, bursting out of midfield down the right in forceful fashion and whipping in a cross that invited Diaz to apply the finishing touch.
The Europa League has subsequently become Gravenberch’s competition, scoring in the home wins over Union Saint-Gilloise and Toulouse although he was notably absent from the loss at the latter last month. Having also assisted compatriot Cody Gakpo in the League Cup win over Leicester City, the Holland international midfielder has been one of the stellar performers for the ‘midweek’ team that has been largely rotated in for cup competitions by Jurgen Klopp so far this campaign.
It has provided Gravenberch a platform on which to adapt to a new team and country and regain his match sharpness and enjoyment of the game. He has also started three Premier League games, and it was his contribution having come on from the bench at Manchester City at the weekend when racing away from Rodri that provided the platform for Trent Alexander-Arnold to earn a 1-1 draw. “I think he is a really good player,” says Gakpo. “I think he is someone who is really good, comfortable with the ball. (The way he is) receiving (the ball) is outstanding, he can turn and run with the ball and give a good pass as well. He is a great player.”
Gravenberch will be expected to return to the starting line-up this evening as Klopp again contemplates wholesale changes with Liverpool in the midst of a hectic run of games. Caoimhin Kelleher was starting in goal regardless of Alisson Becker picking up an injury at the weekend that will keep him out for at least three weeks.
Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Jarell Quansah and youngster Luke Chambers are pressing for inclusion in defence, with midfield duo Harvey Elliott and Wataru Endo likely to maintain their record of having started every Europa League game thus far. Up front, Gakpo should replace Darwin Nunez down the middle and Diaz come in for the crocked Diogo Jota on the left, with Ben Doak the alternative to Mohamed Salah on the right. While bottom of Group E, LASK thumped Union Saint-Gilloise 3-0 in their last group game and stand third in the Austrian Bundesliga and have beaten the two teams above them, Red Bull Salzburg and Sturm Graz, in the last five weeks.
The surprise 3-2 reverse in Toulouse means Liverpool still need one more victory to assure their place in the knockout stages, while a win over LASK and a draw or defeat for Toulouse against Union would secure top spot with a game to spare and avoid the possibility of having to negotiate a play-off round in the New Year.
And asked if the loss to Toulouse result was a helpful reminder about the perils in this competition, Klopp says: “No, I didn’t need that. I would’ve loved to have won that game, loved to have played better but we didn’t. It was not needed but it wasn’t helpful. It was three weeks ago and a lot of things happened since then. It just made the situation more difficult, that’s how it is. “We want to put the opponent under pressure with good pressing and football with top protection and be super-aware around set-pieces. Toulouse was maybe a one-off performance-wise – it was around Luton which was not too great either – but this was in a very short period of time. Besides that, the boys usually perform and that’s what we should concentrate on.”
Klopp adds: “In the Europa League it is important whether you are top of the group or second in the group as second goes into a play-off. These things are all very important. We didn’t make any difference in any competition, it’s not about who, we have to share intensity. We don’t make decisions because of a less-important competition, we just want to go for it but we need in this busy time all the boys available.”
When Liverpool supporters made the journey to Austria back in September, it wasn’t just Europa League opponents LASK Linz who were something of an unknown.
