Ryan Gravenberch is suspended for Liverpool vs. Bournemouth – and the manner in which he earned his red card is still a source of frustration for Arne Slot.
Gravenberch will not be available for the Premier League opener on Friday night after being sent off for two bookable offences on the final day of last season.
It means the midfielder will have missed the first two games of the campaign, having also sat out the Community Shield last weekend due to the birth of his daughter.
But the fact Gravenberch’s first booking in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace back in May came for simulation has left Slot annoyed – as he feels Liverpool are the most honest team in the league.
“Probably everyone has forgotten how he got his suspension. He got two yellow cards, the first one for a dive,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“Now there’s one team in the league that is, in my opinion, by far the most honest team when they play.
“I sometimes blame them for never trying to make a little bit more from a foul, like Cody in the 2-2 we conceded against Palace [in the Community Shield], he got a push in the back but he was far too clean.
“So if there’s any one team in the league that is very clean and never dives, never wastes time and all these kinds of things, then it’s us.
“And we have a suspension now for a player diving, which he got his first yellow card for.”
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 10, 2025: Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah (R) during the FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Palace won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Slot stopped short of calling for his side to embrace the dark arts, saying “you can never be too honest,” but he feels Liverpool could be more savvy depending on the situation.
“I think there was a great example in the game against Palace – and if I talk to a referee I do talk about it, as well as to the fourth official. Florian, they hold him clearly in the midfield, but he was so fair he didn’t fall over,” he continued.
“The ref said ‘if you don’t fall I’m not going to give you a free-kick’, which is a bit weird.
“And a fraction later they fell down in a moment which wasn’t even a foul and the referee feels ‘oh, he fell down, so it probably is a foul’.
“We had much more ball possession than Palace, we made 13 fouls and they made five fouls, and that tells you also something about who we are.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Monday, August 4, 2025: Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister during a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Athletic Bilbao at Anfield. Liverpool won 4-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Liverpool will not be able to field Gravenberch either way on Friday night, which leaves Slot facing a decision over who to start in midfield alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz.
The likelihood is that Curtis Jones will reprise his role from the Community Shield, but Alexis Mac Allister is also available having built up his game time in the latter stages of pre-season.
“I think last Sunday the chances we conceded were mainly losing the ball very simply in our midfield and they could counter-attack us,” Slot explained.
“You could say Ryan is always taking really good care of the ball over there, but players – Ryan or anyone else in our team – can lose the ball, so in that sense I’m not sure how much we missed him last Sunday.
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 10, 2025: Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo line-up before the FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Palace won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“But it’s clear that Ryan had a big impact on us last season.
“I’ve said many times that probably the midfield might even be our strongest line when it comes to the bodies we have.
“Unfortunately Macca had a bit of a different pre-season than we would like him to have but he’s back fit now, so I still have a choice to make in midfield even if Ryan is not there.”
Slot will also be without Conor Bradley and Stefan Bajcetic for the 8pm kickoff, though Joe Gomez could make the squad having recovered from an Achilles injury.