Giorgi Mamardashvili redeemed himself by saving a penalty he gave away for Georgia, while Milos Kerkez drew attention with a trademark attacking display for Hungary.
It was a relatively quiet Saturday in terms of Liverpool’s internationals, with only five players involved in World Cup qualifiers and friendlies.
Mamardashvili, who will remain first-choice goalkeeper for the Reds in Alisson‘s absence, was given an opportunity to build up rhythm as he started for Georgia against Spain.
Giorgi Mamardashvili vs Spain
Some big saves.
pic.twitter.com/lD46ZO8sDJ— Savvy (@lfcsavvy) October 11, 2025
While it came in an eventual 2-0 defeat it was far from a poor night for the 25-year-old, who denied Ferran Torres from the spot.
That came after Mamardashvili brought the Barcelona forward down in the box, before making up for it with an expert save from the resulting penalty.
He was required to pull off four saves according to FotMob, and could do little to deny Mikel Oyarzabal’s free-kick to make it 2-0 in the second half, such was the venom it was struck with.
Elsewhere, both Kerkez and Dominik Szoboszlai started down the left as Hungary faced Armenia, and while Szoboszlai was the more influential player in a 2-0 victory the left-back’s performance was a major talking point.
Struggling for consistency so far at Liverpool as he adjusts to a more conservative role, Kerkez was given freedom to attack for his country.
That led to a night similar to those that earned his £40 million move to Anfield in the first place, having shone as a relentless attacking left-back for Bournemouth.
Kerkez’s display prompted questions over his role under Arne Slot:
Players will look suboptimal in suboptimal conditions – a tale as old as time.
When Milos Kerkez is given freedom to stretch play & bomb down the wing, he looks like the player Liverpool bought from Bournemouth this summer.
Need to get him out of that faux-LCB IP. https://t.co/vcZ39YLq47
— CounterPressers (@CounterPressers) October 11, 2025
It’s no surprise that both Kerkez & Wirtz perform well for their countries when playing in optimal environments. Kerkez being played as an attacking LB bombing up and down the left side. Wirtz played off the left and playing in the LHS as an inside #10.
— NiHADlfc (@NiHADlfc) October 12, 2025
Per FotMob, Szoboszlai created more chances than any other player in Hungary’s win (four), having been deployed as a left winger by manager Marco Rossi.
Also in action on Saturday were Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni, who played their part in a dominant friendly win as England U19s beat Belgium 4-1.
Sunday could see five more Liverpool players involved for their national teams, including Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gakpo for the Netherlands.
Andy Robertson is also expected to captain Scotland as they host Belarus, but Mohamed Salah is due to miss Egypt’s clash with Guinea-Bissau having already secured qualification for next summer’s World Cup.
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