Match News
Wednesday, 4 November 2026
News · Champions League

Gravenberch has a fractured heel, De Bruyne and Højlund are doubtful for Napoli: Wednesday's Champions League absentees

Liverpool's midfielder stays at home with a fracture, Napoli list seven players out and three doubtful for Porto, and Arsenal are without Saka and Saliba in Prague. The team news for nine games, from the clubs and UEFA.

Published Wednesday, 4 November 2026, 07:05 WAT · How we produce content

Ryan Gravenberch has a fractured heel and has stayed in England while Liverpool play Fenerbahçe in Istanbul on Wednesday evening, the club confirmed on Tuesday. It is the most serious of the absences on the second night of the Champions League’s fourth round, which has nine games: two at 18:45 CET and seven at 21:00 CET. This piece lists the team news for all of them, from the clubs where they have published it and from UEFA’s team-news page, which was published on Tuesday morning, for the rest. A predicted line-up is a prediction, not a confirmed team; the official teams are due an hour before each kick-off.

Fenerbahçe v Liverpool, 18:45 CET

Gravenberch is receiving treatment and did not travel. “It’s a fracture of the heel,” Andoni Iraola, the Liverpool head coach, said on Tuesday, according to the club’s website; the player had been uncomfortable and is being assessed daily. Jeremie Frimpong (muscle) is also out, Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni are still recovering from long-term injuries, and Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are not in the squad registered for the league phase. Trey Nyoni, 19, is expected to keep his place in midfield. Fenerbahçe, under their interim coach Dirk Kuyt, are without Nathan Aké (hamstring) and Marco Asensio (knee); Jayden Oosterwolde has been out since August and Kojo Peprah Oppong is a doubt, the Liverpool page says. Our full preview is linked below.

AEK Athens v Real Madrid, 18:45 CET

UEFA lists Rodrygo (knee) and Raúl Asencio (leg) as out for Madrid, with nobody doubtful. AEK are without João Mário (illness); Rota (illness) and the goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha (wrist) are doubtful, and UEFA’s predicted AEK side has Brignoli in goal.

Porto v Napoli, 21:00 CET

Napoli’s list is the longest of the night. UEFA names seven players out: Badiashile and Olivera (muscular), Di Lorenzo (adductor), Lobotka (ankle), Neres and Alisson Santos (thigh) and Spinazzola (leg). Kevin De Bruyne (ankle), Rasmus Højlund (illness) and Milinković-Savić (muscular) are doubtful; Højlund still appears in UEFA’s predicted Napoli line-up, which also has Gilmour and McTominay in midfield and Politano and Lang either side of him. Napoli lost 2-0 at Juventus on Sunday and are 24th of 36 in Europe on three points. Porto, bottom of the table with no points from three games, have nobody listed as out; William Gomes (ankle) and Pietuszewski (thigh) are doubtful.

Slavia Praha v Arsenal, 21:00 CET

Arsenal, top of the Premier League and unbeaten in 18 Champions League games, a club record according to UEFA, are without Bukayo Saka (quadriceps) and William Saliba (back), and Eberechi Eze is doubtful. Saka was already ruled out until after the international break, as our earlier piece reports. UEFA’s predicted Arsenal side has Konsa alongside Gabriel in defence and Madueke, Havertz and Tzolis in attack. Slavia have Ouanda, Piták and Schranz out and four more doubtful, including Provod.

Leipzig v Manchester City, 21:00 CET

Antoine Semenyo (knee) is City’s only listed absentee. Leipzig are without Assan Ouédraogo (shoulder), and Estève is doubtful after a knock. Our preview of the game is on the Matches desk.

Dortmund v Real Betis, 21:00 CET

Dortmund have Kauã Prates (muscular) out and nobody doubtful; UEFA’s predicted Dortmund side has Bellingham behind Fábio Silva and Guirassy. Betis, who have won all three of their European games, are without Cucho Hernández (calf) and Junior Firpo (muscular).

The other three

PSV, who host Club Brugge at 21:00 CET, are without Lammers (muscular), Ouaissa (hamstring) and Wanner (foot); Brugge are missing Ordoñez (toe). Lens, at home to Como at the same time, have Édouard (adductor), Ganiou (knee) and Sima (thigh) out; Como are without Diao (hamstring) and Kean (shin), with Chalobah doubtful. Viking, at home to Sabah, list five players out, and Sabah have Simić as a doubt.

What it means for the table

The league phase is a single table of 36 clubs; the top eight go straight to the last 16, places nine to 24 go into a play-off round in February, and the bottom 12 are out. Liverpool, Real Madrid and Betis are on nine points and can reach 12, which is the mark Iraola described on Tuesday as making qualification safe. Arsenal, ninth on seven, can move into the top eight. Napoli and Porto are both in the bottom 12, and the loser in Porto stays there. The next round is on 24 and 25 November, after the international break.

Sources
  1. Fenerbahce v Liverpool: Team news, Liverpool FC. Read 06:50 WAT, 4 Nov 2026.
  2. Champions League starting and predicted line-ups: Matchday 4 team news, injuries, suspensions, UEFA. Read 06:45 WAT, 4 Nov 2026.
  3. Champions League standings and fixtures (licensed feed, generated 2026-11-04T05:23Z, in data/latest.json), football-data.org via Match News. Read 06:40 WAT, 4 Nov 2026.

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