Liverpool might not be in action at the moment, but many of the Reds’ players are on international duty, either in friendlies or ‘competitive’ fixtures in the form of the UEFA Nations League.
An end of season rest? No chance. It says a lot that this is a supposedly ‘normal’ off-season ahead of a supposedly ‘normal’ campaign (no World Cup or pandemic in the middle) but that the players are still being put through the wringer.
After a grueling period, there should not be any matches going on at the moment, but international sides have other ideas. With less than a month until pre-season begins, it seems remarkable to even think about playing competitively.
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The only international tournament that takes places this summer is the U21 European Championships, where Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones will feature for England. That tournament begins in just under a week.
In the meantime, here is the latest look at how the Liverpool players have been getting on while on duty with their international sides, with some mixed fortunes for Jürgen Klopp’s men.
Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina)
Argentina beat Australia 2-0 today with Alexis Mac Allister playing just under an hour, with Lionel Messi and Germán Pezzella on the scoresheet for the South American side.
Only Messi had more attempts than Mac Allister and the Liverpool new boy impressed in the final third, completing all of his dribbles, playing alongside Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernández.
Liverpool.com says: Mac Allister is going to be an excellent signing for Liverpool and he arrives with a vast amount of experience. He is now a first pick for his country — the World Cup holders, no less. He picked up some similar positions in the final third to what Liverpool will want to see from him, and made a difference for his side while he was on the pitch.
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Mohamed Salah and Egypt came up against Naby Keïta and Guinea yesterday. Neither scored but both were on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in a game that was part of AFCON qualifying.
Salah will miss four Premier League matches and potentially some more fixtures on top of that because of AFCON, with Egypt winning 2-1 in this game, placing them top of the group to make the tournament in Ivory Coast.
Liverpool.com says: Salah will be a big loss when he flies off to Africa mid-season but Liverpool does have other options. Players like Darwin Núñez will have to step up in his absence but the Reds should not be overly concerned.
Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)
It seems remarkable that Nations League matches are happening at the moment, just days after another UEFA competition, the Champions League, was concluded, but there we are.
In the semi-final, Noa Lang scored an injury-time equalizer to force extra-time before Croatia ended up winning 4-2 before it got to the stage where penalties were required.
Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk both started the game, but the former gave away a penalty in normal time which was converted by Andrej Kramarić.
Dutch outlet AD gave Gakpo a rating of 5/10 for a ‘difficult’ performance in which he also sustained a nasty-looking cut to the face. Spain will face Italy in the other semi-final today.
Liverpool.com says: Gakpo has proven very adept at offering defensive work while playing for Liverpool, but this was not a contribution that he would want. Ultimately, though, there are bigger things to think about. Two of their players not having to play a Nations League final is no bad thing for Liverpool.