As 11 members of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool senior squad prepare to join their nations for the international break in September, we take a look at the players who will travel the furthest.
The Reds are in the midst of a 17-day gap between games, with this weekend’s Premier League meeting with Chelsea postponed.
When the players reconvene after the break, they will be faced with a hectic schedule that will see them play 13 games in six weeks before this year’s World Cup.
For that reason, it is imperative that Klopp have as many members of his squad available as possible, and the Liverpool manager will be watching anxiously as his players visit their countries over the course of the next two weeks.
Travel and air miles are something you’ll also be keeping an eye on, as Liverpool host Brighton on Saturday 1st October at 3:00pm (BST).
One of the last players to return is likely to be Luis Diaz, who will face Guatemala in New Jersey next Saturday and Mexico in California in the early hours of Tuesday, September 27. He then he will undertake a flight of 8000 km. at home and he is unlikely to return to Liverpool training until Thursday at the earliest.
Mohamed Salah is the other player who will represent his country outside of Europe this month. His Egypt team will face Niger on Friday, before hosting Liberia the following Tuesday. The kick-off time for the final match is unclear, but he too faces a long-haul flight back to Liverpool after the match.
Fortunately, the remaining nine players who have been called up for international duty will be based in Europe, including the Brazilians and Darwin Núñez of Uruguay.
Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino are due to make a short trip to France to play Ghana and Tunisia, while Tite’s players are spared a long flight back to South America.
Nunez will be based in Austria, where Uruguay will face Iran and then Slovakia in a friendly against Canada.
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold will travel to Italy for England’s first Nations League game, before Gareth Southgate’s side host Germany at Wembley. So will Harvey Elliott, with the England Under-21s facing the same nations.
Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk will play in Poland and then on home soil for September matches, Kostas Tsimikas in Cyprus and Greece, and Diogo Jota in the Czech Republic and Portugal.
The only slight doubt is Naby Keita, who was in Guinea’s squad to face Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire in Africa but will most likely not be as he is still recovering from injury.
There are 16 players who have not been selected for international duty, with the likes of Nat Phillips, Fabio Carvalho and Arthur giving up valuable playing time in the Under-21s’ victory over Leicester on Saturday.
