Why Ryan Gravenberch Isn’t Playing for Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace

Liverpool manager Arne Slot revealed that Ryan Gravenberch was left out of the squad for Sunday’s Community Shield against Crystal Palace due to the birth of his first child the night before.

Gravenberch was a fixture of Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning campaign last term. Transformed into a purely defensively-minded midfielder by Slot, the former Ajax and Bayern Munich operator shone as the ballast in the centre of the pitch.

The towering Dutchman started 37 of Liverpool’s 38 Premier League games and was a regular in pre-season—even filling in at centre back on occasion—but was conspicuous by his absence for Sunday’s traditional curtain-raiser against Palace. He had a good reason. “Ryan Gravenberch became a dad last night,” Slot revealed to TNT Sports ahead of kick-off.

The 23-year-old midfielder announced that he and his partner Cindy Peroti were expecting their first child back in April after Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions with a 5–1 thumping of Tottenham Hotspur. Beneath a series of images showing various baby scans, Gravenberch wrote: “We have been keeping a secret, we can’t wait to meet you.”

Last time Liverpool played in the community shield, Darwin Nunez played a crucial role in securing the trophy.

Someone else will need to step up to draw them level with Arsenal's tally this afternoon... pic.twitter.com/bKduB18Tz6
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) August 10, 2025

Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai, whose wife gave birth to their first child earlier this week, formed an attacking double pivot in the absence of Gravenberch. Alexis Mac Allister, a more natural replacement for his regular midfield partner, started on the bench after a summer spent recovering from injury.

Slot was able to name four of Liverpool’s new summer signings. Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez flanked the familiar centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, while Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitiké were installed in a jet-heeled frontline.

“Ideally you want to play the best possible game you can play,” Slot mused pre-match.

“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] semifinal 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. 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.”