Eight Liverpool players were in action for their international sides on Friday, with two scoring as an exciting day of football played out in Europe and Africa.
The first two days of the break saw both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dom Solanke score for England, ensuring victory for the seniors and U21s respectively.
Though the Three Lions were in action on Thursday, the following day was set up as the more exciting, with six of Jurgen Klopp‘s key players lined up.
Mohamed Salah got the Reds’ representatives off to a bright start as he scored an excellent 88th-minute winner for Egypt against Tunisia.
With the scores level at 2-2, the 26-year-old played a neat one-two to drive into the penalty area, before dinking the ball over the goalkeeper to seal the three points.
Egypt had already booked their place at next summer’s Africa Cup of Nations, but this victory took them level with Group J leaders Tunisia with a clash in Niger to come in March.
Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum both started for the Netherlands against world champions France, and the midfielder scored in a 2-0 win that knocked Germany out of their UEFA Nations League group
Wijnaldum reacted quickly to turn home after Ryan Babel’s initial shot was saved, before Memphis Depay’s last-minute panenka penalty sealed the result.
Van Dijk played the full 90 minutes at the back, while Wijnaldum was replaced on 89 minutes after an impressive display in a more offensive role than he’s deployed in at Liverpool.
Alisson and Roberto Firmino were named in Tite’s starting lineup as Brazil took on Uruguay at the Emirates, with Fabinho on the substitutes’ bench.
The midfielder remained unused in a 1-0 win for the Selecao, decided by Neymar’s second-half penalty, but both Alisson and Firmino played 90 minutes.
Both Harry Wilson and Ben Woodburn were named on the substitutes’ bench for Wales’ UEFA Nations League clash with Denmark in Cardiff, but the introduction of Wilson was unable to thwart a 2-1 loss.
Ryan Giggs’ bold, youthful side went behind to a Nicolai Jorgensen strike in the first half, with Martin Braithwaite and Gareth Bale both scoring within two minutes in the closing stages.
Kamil Grabara‘s tenure as No. 1 for the Poland U21s continued as he started in their first-leg U21 Euro qualifier at home to Portugal, in a side also including Arsenal‘s Krystian Bielik and Leicester‘s Bartosz Kapustka.
The 19-year-old shipped a goal through Diogo Jota on the half-hour, and the hosts were unable to claw back at result in Zabrze, leaving it all to do on the road on Tuesday.
Finally, Viteszlav Jaros played the full 90 minutes between the sticks as the Czech Republic U18s took on Italy, but conceded three in a end-to-end 3-3 draw.
Saturday is set to be relatively low-key day for Liverpool’s internationals, with the majority of those in action coming from the academy.
However, Sadio Mane should start for Senegal in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier away to Equatorial Guinea, safe in the knowledge that they have already qualified for next summer’s tournament.
Andy Robertson will wear the armband as Scotland take on Albania in the UEFA Nations League, looking to live up to the Braveheart nickname bestowed to him by Klopp.
Both Neco Williams and Morgan Boyes could turn out for Wales in their latest U19 Euros qualifier against Sweden, while Tom Clayton can hope to feature for the Scotland U19s as they take on San Marino.
Rafa Camacho is in contention as the Portugal U19s take on Armenia, as is Curtis Jones for the England U18s’ clash with the Republic of Ireland and Edvard Tagseth in the Norway U18s’ friendly against China.
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