Liverpool could be without five first-team players for Sunday's Premier League match at Crystal Palace, with midfielder Ryan Gravenberch a doubt due to a heel injury.
The Reds travel to Selhurst Park for a 2pm kick-off looking to finish the weekend in the top five. Manager Andoni Iraola, like predecessor Arne Slot, has had to contend with injuries during a transitionary season.
Gravenberch and Frimpong doubts
Gravenberch missed the midweek Champions League defeat to Fenerbahce in Istanbul with a heel problem that has troubled him for some time. He was left out of the Netherlands squad for their Nations League matches against Greece and Germany.
Iraola said at his pre-match press conference: "The Ryan Gravenberch thing is a day-to-day thing. It's a matter of pain. Let's see if he can deal with the pain and if he can help us, yes."
Jeremie Frimpong is also out of the Dutch squad as he recovers from a muscle injury sustained in the 2-1 win at Brentford on October 17. Iraola said the right-back would be out for "some time" and added: "(It) is obviously a new muscle injury and it happened, I think, in the second or third minute he was playing, difficult to predict and we will have to wait until he recovers. But it's going to be difficult, I think, before the (November international) break. We will try but it's going to be difficult to have him."
Long-term absentees
Giovanni Leoni's return after more than a year out has been delayed, with the centre-back's injury more complicated than initially reported. The £26m signing from Parma has been absent since suffering serious ACL damage on his debut in the Carabao Cup win over Southampton in September 2025.
Iraola said: "It's taking more time than we wanted. The planning was to train with the team in this past international break (but) probably it's going to be in the next international break, so we've lost one month in the process. Giovanni's injury, I wasn't here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL."
Hugo Ekitike, the second of Liverpool's three long-term injury victims, has not played since rupturing his Achilles tendon against Paris Saint-Germain in April. According to L'Equipe, he could return to training this month, with a target of being back by Boxing Day.
Iraola last updated on the Frenchman in September, saying: "I think it's difficult with these long-term injuries, I think he's still far (away). But we had a meeting with the medical department to analyse when we completed the (squad) list for the European games. There is a reasonable chance that he could help us in the last two games of the group stages."
Conor Bradley, who suffered an ACL injury at Arsenal in January, is training alone but not close to returning. Iraola said on September 14: "I think he is not close to training with the team. He's training alone but he has started touching the ball. Definitely I want him as quick as possible ready but it's a long-term injury."
Gravenberch and Frimpong could return for the home match against Manchester United on November 22, while Leoni is not expected back until the Bournemouth game on December 16 and Ekitike's potential return is set for the Hull City match on December 26.
