The past week has seen the first international break of the 2023/24 season take place, with a number of Liverpool stars representing their country.
Alisson, Caoimhin Kelleher, Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, Dominik Szobozslai, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Ben Doak were all called up to their country’s squads.
This article is going to look deeper into a few standout performers for the Reds throughout the week, ahead of Liverpool’s return to domestic football on Saturday.
The goalkeepers:
Both Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher were called up to the Brazil and Ireland national teams respectively.
However, both keepers found themselves named on the bench for both of their games and not featuring at all.
Brazil opted to play Manchester City’s Ederson, whilst Ireland decided Southampton’s Gavin Bazunu would start in both of their defeats.
The Defence:
Virgil Van Dijk: 6/10
Virgil Van Dijk started in both of the Netherlands’ victories against Greece and Ireland as they continue to push towards qualification for the 2024 Euros.
The first game saw the Liverpool captain face fellow Red Kostas Tsimikas, with the Netherlands coming out 3-0 winners against Greece.
Van Dijk had a shaky performance against Ireland in the second game, where he gave away a sloppy penalty in the first half before his team managed to turn the game around to a 2-1 victory.
Kostas Tsimikas: 5/10
Kostas Tsimikas then did not feature in Greece’s 5-0 victory against Gibraltar, due to an ‘admin error’.
Andy Robertson: 6/10
The Scotland captain played the full 90 minutes in both their 3-0 victory against Cyprus and their 3-1 defeat to England in a friendly.
Robertson unfortunately made a huge mistake in Scotland’s defeat to England, with a heavy touch in his own box falling to the feet of Jude Bellingham who would slot the ball away.
The Midfield:
Wataru Endo: 8/10
Liverpool’s new signing captained Japan to a famous 4-1 victory over Germany, which saw Hansi Flick ultimately be sacked as Germany Head Coach.
The 30-year-old then came on as a 64th minute subsitute in Japan’s 4-2 victory over Turkey.
Harvey Elliott: 6/10
The 20-year-old played the full 90 minutes in England Under-21’s 3-0 victory against Luxembourg Under-21’s.
Stefan Bajcetic: 6/10
The 18-year-old came on as a 65th minute subsitute in Spain Under-21’s 6-0 win over Malta Under-21’s, before being an unused substitute in the 1-0 victory against Scotland Under-21’s.
Dominik Szobozslai: 8/10
Liverpool’s new number eight captained Hungary to a 2-1 victory over Serbia and a 1-1 draw with Czech Republic, playing the full 90 minutes in both games.
Alexis Mac Allister: 8/10
The 24-year-old played 77 minutes in Argentina’s 1-0 victory against Ecuador, and 85 minutes in their 3-0 victory against Bolivia.
Both Szobozslai and Mac Allister received a lot of plaudits for both of their all-round performances over the International break.
The Forwards:
Mohamed Salah: 5/10
The Egyptian King didn’t feature at all in Egypt’s 1-0 victory against Ethiopia in the AFCON qualifiers, due to the nation already securing progression.
Salah would then play the full 90 minutes in the 3-1 defeat to Tunisia in a friendly.
Darwin Nunez: 6.5/10
Liverpool’s number nine notched an assist in Uruguay’s impressive 3-1 win against Chile, before being replaced at half time in the 2-1 defeat to Ecuador due to ‘muscular difficulties’.
Luis Diaz: 6/10
The winger started in both of Colombia’s CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying games where they beat Venezuela 1-0 before playing out a 0-0 draw with Chile.
Cody Gakpo: 9/10
Cody Gakpo was a standout performer for the Netherlands throughout the international break.
The 24-year-old scored in the 3-0 victory against Greece, before scoring a penalty in the 2-1 victory against Ireland.
Diogo Jota: 8/10
The forward didn’t feature at all in Portugal’s 1-0 victory against Slovakia.
However, Jota would go on to score twice in the 9-0 victory against Luxembourg in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Ben Doak: 7/10
The 17-year-old played as a central forward in Scotland Under-21’s 1-0 defeat to Spain Under-21’s, but was replaced after 77 minutes.
