Fifteen Liverpool players not away with their nations will continue working at the AXA Training Centre during the international break, including an injured trio facing an anxious wait to be fit for the visit of Manchester United on November 22.
Liverpool returned to winning ways against Crystal Palace after successive losses to Arsenal and Fenerbahce, before the majority of Andoni Iraola's squad departed for the final international break of the calendar year. The Reds' next game is against United at Anfield on November 22, by which point the Red Devils will almost certainly have a new manager after opening talks with Mauricio Pochettino as club officials weigh up whether to sack Michael Carrick.
Injured Stars Left Behind
Virgil van Dijk withdrew from the Netherlands squad due to a minor injury, having revealed after the victory over Crystal Palace that he had been playing through the pain in recent weeks. "Physically I've been struggling with a little niggle the last couple of weeks," he said. "But I do everything in my power to be out there."
Ryan Gravenberch and Jeremie Frimpong were left out of the Netherlands squad after being sidelined by heel and muscle injuries respectively. Alisson Becker was again left out of the Brazil squad by Carlo Ancelotti, while Wataru Endo retired from international duty after conceding defeat in his effort to be fit for Japan at this summer's World Cup.
Federico Chiesa has not been called up by Italy, with manager Roberto Mancini saying the forward needs to improve his fitness before a recall, having featured for just two minutes for Liverpool this season after recovering from a back injury. Joe Gomez, Freddie Woodman, Luke Chambers, James McConnell and Jayden Danns have also not been called up by their countries.
Long-Term Absentees Recovering
Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Hugo Ekitike and Vitezslav Jaros remained sidelined because of long-term injury, continuing their rehabilitation during the break. Iraola has suggested that both Leoni and Bradley could return to team training following the November international break, with the pair, along with Frimpong, waiting to be given the go-ahead by the club's medical team.
Leoni had previously been pencilled in to return during the last break, only for his comeback to be delayed. "It's taking more time than we wanted," Iraola admitted last month. "The planning was to train with the team in this past international break (but) probably it's going to be in the next international break, so we've lost one month in the process."
"Giovanni's injury, I wasn't here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL. He has to be very confident, the rehab process has to be very careful with him and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays there in a good place."
Iraola also revealed last month that Bradley was closing in on a return to light training. "They are both doing very well," he said. "I think they are in a good place. Conor is not so far from training with the group – not like full training but doing some things with the group. Hugo is a little bit behind that but that was always the plan. He is still doing very well according to the plan."
Fitness Boost Opportunity
The break offers a valuable fortnight for Leoni, Bradley and Ekitike to make important steps in their rehabilitation as they look to return before the end of the year. It could also hand Chiesa, Endo and Danns an opportunity to build up fitness and impress their new head coach, having barely featured this season.
Alisson will perhaps be afforded a longer break than his team-mates, with Liverpool managing the Brazilian carefully following injury-stricken stints in recent seasons. It would not be a surprise to see Van Dijk and Gravenberch afforded extra rest too as the Reds wait for the pair to heal ahead of Liverpool's return to club action, especially with the festive period slowly coming into sight.
