Fenerbahce v Liverpool: Gravenberch out, Nyoni trusted
Fenerbahce host Liverpool at the Chobani Stadium on Wednesday 4 November 2026 (17:45 GMT / 18:45 WAT) in Champions League matchday four. Andoni Iraola is without Ryan Gravenberch after a heel fracture, trusts Trey Nyoni to keep going in midfield, and faces former Reds forward Dirk Kuyt in the home dugout.
By Emily · · Updated
When and where is Fenerbahce v Liverpool?
Fenerbahce host Liverpool at the Chobani Stadium in Istanbul on Wednesday 4 November 2026 in matchday four of the Champions League league phase. Kick-off is 17:45 GMT, which is 18:45 WAT in Lagos, per BBC Sport's Champions League live blog and Liverpool FC's team-news note. Liverpool travel with a perfect league-phase record of three wins from three; Fenerbahce sit on two points from three and are still looking for a first win in the phase.
The Reds arrive two days after a 0-1 Premier League defeat at home to Arsenal. Fenerbahce come in on the back of consecutive 2-1 Super Lig losses and are under interim head coach Dirk Kuyt, the former Liverpool forward appointed last week after returning to the club as an assistant in the summer.
Who is out for Liverpool?
Ryan Gravenberch was left out of the 22-man travelling party that flew from John Lennon Airport on Tuesday morning. Liverpool FC said a heel injury means he is receiving treatment at the AXA Training Centre instead of boarding the Istanbul flight. Andoni Iraola went further in his pre-match press conference at the Chobani Stadium: "It's a fracture of the heel. It's about the pain. He has been with some discomfort. The other day against Arsenal he was warming up and he was not fully confident. He hasn't improved since then. But it's going to be something that every day we ask him, every day we see how he is."
Asked whether Gravenberch could be ready for Sunday's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace, Iraola told reporters, as carried by The Independent: "I don't know, it's a day-to-day thing. If he can be available for the weekend, lovely. It would be a very good help for us, but I cannot tell you right now."
Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are unavailable because they were not named in Liverpool's submitted A squad for the league phase. Jeremie Frimpong is sidelined with a muscle issue. Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni remain on longer recoveries. Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz both travelled after returning from injury at the weekend, Liverpool.com reported alongside the club note.
Will Trey Nyoni start again?
Iraola was asked whether the 19-year-old, who made his first Premier League start in Sunday's loss to Arsenal, can keep his midfield place with Gravenberch absent. "He is playing most of the games – or even all the games lately – so we trust him," the head coach said on Liverpool FC's site. "He is doing very well and I think we have to encourage him to continue – to continue improving, continue learning, continue adding experience. He is in a very good place." That is the firmest selection signal in the briefing; we still wait for the team sheet rather than treat any published XI as confirmed.
On the match itself Iraola stressed the press. "Fenerbahce is a team that has very good players. In the midfield they have a very good technical level. If we allow them a lot of time on the ball or we don't press them properly, we are going to suffer," he said. "The stronger we start, the less chances we should give to Fenerbahce."
Who is out for Fenerbahce?
Kuyt is without defender Nathan Ake and midfielder Marco Asensio through injury, Liverpool FC reported. Jayden Oosterwolde has been out since August and Kojo Peprah Oppong is a doubt. Secondary reports have also listed club captain Mert Hakan Yandas as outside Fenerbahce's league-phase registration; we treat that as unconfirmed on this page until the club or UEFA list is cited directly, and we do not expand on the off-field case here.
Kuyt, speaking ahead of the tie, pointed to Romelu Lukaku's call for a reaction to the fans and said: "We have really good players but we need to show up. When we show up tomorrow with good energy, with passion and there to play, I think it can be a very special night." Fenerbahce's last Super Lig XI, listed by Liverpool FC, used Ederson in goal with Semedo, Skriniar, Oppong and Mercan across the back.
What does the league-phase table say before kick-off?
BBC Sport's live table before Wednesday's early kick-offs had Liverpool fourth on nine points from three matches and Fenerbahce 31st on two points from three. A win in Istanbul would keep Liverpool inside the automatic last-16 band on the current shape of the table; a first Fenerbahce win would lift them off the bottom third. Those positions will move again once the 17:45 GMT and 20:00 GMT waves finish.
TuSport desk: three boards, one open Palace question
We set the club's own team-news note against Iraola's Istanbul press conference and the Independent's day-to-day read on Crystal Palace, instead of copying a single preview. Liverpool FC confirms Gravenberch stayed at the AXA Training Centre with a heel injury and lists Chiesa and Endo as league-phase squad exclusions; Iraola calls the heel a fracture whose limit is pain, not a fixed return date; the Independent adds that the Chobani Stadium briefing ran more than an hour late after Istanbul traffic and that Nyoni's first Premier League start against Arsenal is the clearest midfield pointer for Wednesday.
Fenerbahce's absences are taken from the same Liverpool FC briefing and checked against the club's last Super Lig line-up: Ake and Asensio injured, Oosterwolde out since August, Oppong a doubt, and Kuyt in the dugout for only his second week as interim. We do not invent a starting XI. Expected line-ups published elsewhere stay off this page until the team sheet drops.
For Nigerian viewers the clock is the winter GMT one: 17:45 GMT in Istanbul is 18:45 WAT. That is the early Champions League slot shared with AEK Athens v Real Madrid, ninety minutes before the 21:00 WAT wave that includes Arsenal in Prague and Manchester City in Leipzig.
Why it matters
Liverpool can stay perfect in the league phase without Gravenberch if Nyoni and the returning midfield options hold Istanbul; Fenerbahce need a first win and a reaction under Kuyt. Follow Liverpool, the Champions League hub and our WAT kick-off times guide, plus earlier reports on Sunday Oliseh's Super Eagles critique and Bournemouth v Leeds team news.
Who will win?
Fenerbahçe v Liverpool · Wed 04 Nov, 18:45 WAT · Chobani Stadium, Istanbul
One vote per reader. Results show after you vote.
Sources: Liverpool FC — Fenerbahce v Liverpool: Team news · The Independent — Andoni Iraola gives Ryan Gravenberch injury update after Liverpool star misses Fenerbahce trip · BBC Sport — Champions League: Build-up to Fenerbahce v Liverpool & RB Leipzig v Man City plus eight other matches · Liverpool.com — 12 players could miss Fenerbahce vs Liverpool with Ryan Gravenberch injury update
