Four Liverpool players enjoyed international wins on Thursday, with Virgil van Dijk helping the Netherlands keep a clean sheet against Robert Lewandowski’s Poland.
Van Dijk, who is the captain of his country, led Louis van Gaal’s side to a 2-0 win in Warsaw and played the full 90 minutes in the middle of a three-man defence.
Striker Lewandowski has already scored eight goals in La Liga since joining Barcelona this summer, but he was unable to get past the Liverpool defender.
It means the Netherlands remain top of their Nations League group, three points ahead of Belgium, with Van Dijk’s side in fine form heading into this year’s World Cup.
Elsewhere, Harvey Elliott came off the bench to play 19 minutes in England U21s’ 2-0 win over Italy, with Tyler Morton an unused substitute.
Elliott was one of eight players brought on just after the 70th minute, and was used as part of the forward three in a 3-4-3 system. Former Reds striker Rhian Brewster, who remains at Sheffield United in the Championship, scored both goals.
Ben Doak, 16, took just seven minutes to score on his Scotland Under-21 debut, with the Liverpool Under-18 prospect scoring 31 minutes in their 3-1 win over Northern Ireland.
The goal came when the winger latched on to a deep pass down the right flank, before racing forward to finish goalkeeper Dermot Mee at the near post.
In doing so, he broke Billy Gilmour’s record to become the youngest goalscorer in Scotland under-21 history, and also established himself as the second-youngest player to appear.
Doak made a £600,000 move from Celtic to Liverpool earlier in the summer, and he’s off to a great start to his time with the Reds.
13 more Liverpool players could feature for their nations on Friday night. Trent Alexander-Arnold is in contention when England take on Italy at the San Siro, but despite his return to fitness, Jordan Henderson is holding back for the time being.
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt faces Niger, Darwin Núñez’s Uruguay faces Iran and Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino could play for Brazil against Ghana.
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