Ryan Gravenberch makes Liverpool fitness claim and responds to Toni Kroos comparisons

Ryan Gravenberch has denied he is in need of a Liverpool rest but admits there will come a time when he will need to be taken out of the team by Arne Slot. The Netherlands international has played 1685 minutes so far this term across 19 appearances with only Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah having featured more for the Reds.

The in-form Dutch midfielder has been a revelation at the base of the midfield for Slot but struggled at times during the 3-3 draw with Newcastle United last week, particularly during a difficult first half for the visitors at St James' Park.

Gravenberch and the rest of the squad were afforded a rare weekend off when Saturday's Merseyside derby with Everton was postponed due to the effects of Storm Darragh and the Netherlands midfielder insists he is ready to contribute when the Champions League leaders are hosted by Girona on Tuesday night.

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"I feel good, I feel fit," Gravenberch said. "I think when you play a lot of minutes, you get fitter and fitter and that is the thing for me.

"For now it is nice to play every single game, but maybe in the future when you play a lot of games, now I think it is like 20 games in the Champions League competition, so if you reach the 60 or 70 [game] mark then that is really crazy, but for now it is OK.

"For me the first season [at Liverpool] was not that frustrating, My aim was to play a lot more minutes than I did before (at Bayern Munich) and I did.

"I am just happy to play 90 minutes and be out on the pitch to show what I can do, so I am happy to be here."

Gravenberch also admits he was flattered by comparisons with former Real Madrid star Toni Kroos after the Reds' 2-0 victory over the Spanish champions at Anfield two weeks ago, but says he does not model his game on any one player.

He added: "It is nice to hear that [Kroos comparison], of course, because Toni Kroos is a legend of the game, he did a lot of good things, so it is nice to hear. Do I look at other midfielders? No, not really to be honest, I just want to be myself.

"It's nice to beat them (Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen) because they are really good teams, but we look game by game and then we see further. Of course you want to win every game, so for us our aim is to win every group game and then we will see further. But if we do win every game it means a lot to us."

Gravenberch also backed his team-mates to adequately fill in for Alexis Mac Allister, who will be suspended for Liverpool's first-ever visit to Estadi Montilivi.

"We know Macca is a really good player and we will miss him," Gravenberch said. "He is a top player with top quality but we also have other midfielders who are really good and I think they will show that tomorrow, also, so we'll see."