Liverpool dealt early blow for title defence next season with key player set to miss MULTIPLE games after summer break
Liverpool will begin their Premier League title defence without one important star after he picked up a suspension on the final day of the season.
The Reds lifted their second Premier League title after a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at Anfield, waving goodbye to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It was far from a vintage performance, but Mohamed Salah got back on the scoresheet and the home crowd were in high spirits.
However, one player has made the start of the next campaign slightly harder after picking up a straight red card.
Ryan Gravenberch was handed a red for fouling Daichi Kamada on the halfway line to stop a counter-attack.
The Liverpool midfielder was the last man and stopped Kamada in his tracks with a high challenge after 68 minutes.
He had already been on a yellow for simulation but, after being handed a straight red, is set to miss the first three games of next season.
That will exclude the Community Shield, Mail Sport understands, and will therefore impact the first three games of their title defence.
This was Gravenberch's first sending-off in the Premier League. The 23-year-old has enjoyed an improved campaign at Anfield which has seen him become a midfield fulcrum for Arne Slot, playing all bar one of the side's Premier League games.
Liverpool do not yet know who their first few opponents will be as the Premier League 2025-26 fixtures will only be released on June 18.
Gravenberch is likely to return to a changed Liverpool side after Slot hinted that the Reds will have a 'big summer'.
The manager said: 'It would be weird if I played completely differently because we have just won the league, but we have to adapt.
'You always have to try to become better. We have to improve with these players and if there is a possibility to strengthen with the other players too. Next season the competition will be better as well.'
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The Independent
12 minutes ago
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Tottenham assistant Ryan Mason appointed West Brom manager
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Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Every sport fan thinks they could be a commentator, so I gave it a go
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Every fan across every sport has always questioned the difficulty of matchday commentary; a dream job for so many. So, the aim of this project was to find out just how tricky and demanding the art of commentary truly is by having an authentic experience in the role at a live fixture. This all began earlier in the season when a senior executive at TNT Sports was explaining just how hard commentary and punditry really is. He was singing the praises of the likes of Austin Healey, Ben Kay and – more recently – Chris Ashton and Sam Warburton for how smoothly that troupe had turned their hands to punditry after hanging up their playing boots. There was only one way to verify this. And, over a two-hour period commentating at Ashton Gate, I can confirm it really is incredibly difficult. The timing is militaristic, the language is incomprehensible to the untrained ear (me), and the assault on the senses is ferocious. While commentating last Saturday, with the match unfolding in front of me, I had nine voices in my ears, through the same pair of headphones: the television director, the producer, the PA (production assistant), the referee, TNT's actual pundits, my own voice, and the sounds of the crowd around the stadium. It was like listening to a nine-part vocal harmony, all out of sync and, crucially, not in harmony, while also trying to offer clean and crisp commentary of my own. Thankfully, I had been well prepped and briefed by the avuncular Ali Eykyn and the wider TNT team. I had done my pre-match prep, had been sent all of the broadcaster's preview material – detailing every stat under the sun, from the amount of caps a certain player has won almost to what car they drive and what they ate for breakfast – and I was ready to masquerade as a commentator for the day. 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BBC News
14 minutes ago
- BBC News
Kingswood RFC: How investing in the community saved a rugby club
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