Liverpool news: Gravenberch doubt for Crystal Palace as Iraola weighs January moves

Andoni Iraola gave his pre-match briefing with no fresh injury concerns, but Ryan Gravenberch remains a doubt for Sunday's visit to Crystal Palace. The wider picture is less tidy: nine players could be absent at Selhurst Park, leaving the head coach to shuffle a squad already stretched in midfield.

Jeremie Frimpong is again the subject of exit talk, with the injured defender described as running out of lives at Anfield as speculation over his future heats up. Frimpong's struggles have been persistent enough that the conversation has moved from form to whether he has a long-term place at all.

Iraola will want the noise around the treatment room quietened by a result, because a makeshift XI at Palace is precisely the sort of afternoon that can go wrong.

Bradley Barcola has spoken honestly about the opening months of his Liverpool career, conceding that supporters have 'not seen the best of me' since his £123m arrival from Paris Saint-Germain. That is the right thing to say and the harder thing to fix, because a fee of that size buys patience only for so long.

At the other end of the pitch, Ronald Araujo has had no such problem settling in: the Barcelona loanee's relish for defending has made him a favourite, with one Liverpool icon calling the affection for him 'unusual' in its intensity.

Virgil van Dijk, meanwhile, was seen visiting the LFC Museum at Anfield after a tribute to Jürgen Klopp was unveiled, a reminder of the standard this squad is measured against. The mood around the club is not sour, but it is waiting for Barcola to give it something to cheer.

Liverpool's winter business is being mapped out, and the priority is becoming clear: a left-back. Arsenal are reported to be ready to spoil any move for Alejandro Balde, which would force Julian Ward and the recruitment staff down the list. That list is heavy on centre-backs.

Levi Colwill, under contract at Chelsea until 2029, is being linked, while AC Milan's Koni De Winter and Brighton's Luka Vuskovic, valued around €100m, are both said to be monitored.

Further forward, a Portuguese winger has been floated as a long-term answer to replacing Mohamed Salah, and Wael Mohya is the latest breakout talent to enter the race. Richard Hughes has left the club, but the argument that his transfer mistakes remain is not going away quietly.

Liverpool's pre-match stat pack lands before the Palace game with the usual mix of encouragement and warning. Selhurst Park has been an awkward ground for visiting sides, and the numbers will not make comfortable reading for a team missing several players.

Iraola's frustration over refereeing decisions from the Arsenal defeat has been revisited after another weekend call, with the Alexander Isak incident still a sore point. There is no fresh grievance to add to the list yet, but the sense that Liverpool have been on the wrong side of fine margins is building.

A clean, controlled performance on Sunday would do more than any complaint to change the mood.