Alexis Mac Allister is set to start in Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Ecuador on Tuesday night despite manager Lionel Scaloni admitting “he is not 100 percent fit.”
Mac Allister has been carefully managed through the first month of the season after missing the end of the previous campaign and much of pre-season.
But after spending the night as an unused substitute in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Venezuela to kick off the September break, he will be risked against Ecuador on Tuesday.
Argentina boss Scaloni insisted his midfielder “is fine,” and is likely to start the World Cup qualifier, despite not being “100 percent fit.”
That could be a concern for Arne Slot and Liverpool, with Mac Allister having already been forced to miss the 3-2 win over Newcastle at the end of August due to a setback.
While Liverpool’s medical department will be in communication with doctors from the Argentina national setup, they cannot restrict any player’s involvement.
Mac Allister will be among the last to report back to the AXA Training Centre ahead of Sunday’s trip to Burnley, which could further impact Slot’s selection.
There will be similar long-haul journeys for Alisson and Wataru Endo, who are representing their countries in Bolivia and the United States respectively.
Given they do not kick off until 2pm on Sunday there is likely to be ample time to recover and resume training ready to start.
But Mac Allister’s situation could prompt a rethink, particularly as Curtis Jones was not called up by England head coach Thomas Tuchel for their World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.
Ryan Gravenberch was rested as the Netherlands scraped a 3-2 win over Lithuania on Sunday, while Florian Wirtz‘s duty with Germany also ended at the weekend with a 3-1 victory over Northern Ireland that saw him score a stunning free-kick.
With Dominik Szoboszlai – in action for Hungary against Portugal on Tuesday night – possibly keeping his place at right-back against Burnley, the trio of Gravenberch, Jones and Wirtz could be Slot’s most likely midfield.
Jeremie Frimpong is slated to return after missing Netherlands duty with a hamstring problem, but no definitive verdict has been provided yet.
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