A total of 12 members of Jurgen Klopp’s first team were called up for international duty this month, and it was a mixed bag when it came to the minutes each played.
Liverpool’s season had yet to get underway before the September break, which was not helped by two league postponements, but there was to be no delay in international matches.
It was a smaller than usual international contingent for the Reds thanks to a series of injuries, with only 10 of the 12 senior players ever playing friendly or Nations League games.
Mohamed Salah was released early and luckily there were no injuries at the break – hallelujah!
Here’s a breakdown of what unfolded during the last international break before the World Cup in November.
minutes played
Liverpool had players sitting at both ends of the minutes played spectrum this month, with a handful playing two full games and others not seeing a single minute of action:
Alisson-180
Virgil van Dijk – 180
Costas Tsimikas – 180
Luis Diaz – 154
Darwin Nunez – 151
Diogo Jota – 102
Mohammed Salah – 90
Harvey Elliott-88
Fabinho – 27
Jordan Henderson-5
Roberto Firmino – 0
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 0
goals scored
As for goals scored, three strikers were on the scoresheet, two ended long runs without scoring by doing so:
Mohammed Salah – 2 goals
Diogo Jota – 1 goal
Darwin Nunez – 1 goal
Virgil van Dijk – 1 goal
Who sat down?
There were 17 older players who were left behind by not receiving a call-up, eight due to injury and two withdrawn from the international stage:
Adrian, Kelleher (injured), Matip (retired), Gomez, Konate (injured), Phillips, Robertson (injured), Ramsay (injured), Thiago, Milner (retired), Oxlade-Chamberlain (injured), Keita (injured), Jones (injured), Arthur, Bajcetic, Carvalho and Gordon (injured).
And although both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino were part of their country’s squads, neither played a minute for England and Brazil respectively.
It will be a disappointment on an individual level, but for Liverpool it is a boost ahead of a relentless string of games ahead of the World Cup, with 13 games in 42 days.
