Eighteen of Liverpool’s 19 internationals this month have made an appearance during the September break so far, but six first-team players will not involved in any capacity.
Arne Slot has a busy schedule once the Reds return to action against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, with seven games in 22 days across three competitions.
He saw 20 of his first-team players called up to represent their country in September, in addition to nine other youngsters and loanees.
Just days into the break, though, Harvey Elliott returned to the club for further medical assessment to take the number of Liverpool players not involved this month to six.
The reasons for missing out are a mix of injury, personal choice, simply being overlooked and even a ban.
Joe Gomez was left out of the England squad while Curtis Jones‘ injury made him unavailable, which is also believed to be the case for goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros.
Darwin Nunez is serving a five-match ban for his involvement in the clash with fans during Copa America, meanwhile Federico Chiesa stayed on Merseyside at the request of the club.
It is not a list that offers any head start for Slot this week, as half of them are nursing fitness issues, though it has been reported that Jones is likely to be in contention against Forest.
Aside from Chiesa, those not involved for their countries have been afforded some time off before training restarts this week.
The hope is an update on Elliott’s fitness will be offered in the coming days after he left the England U21s camp early on – he has played just seven minutes so far this season.
So far, 14 first-team members have played 90 minutes with one game remaining for some in the September break, and all that remains to do is keep your fingers crossed they all return with a clean bill of health!
Left out: Gomez, Nunez (ban), Chiesa (personal choice)
Injured: Jaros, Jones, Elliott
