A number of Liverpool players will continue to train at the AXA Training Centre during the international break
Giovanni Leoni and Hugo Ekitike
Giovanni Leoni and Hugo Ekitike(Image: Giovanni Leoni/Instagram )
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Just five games into the new Premier League season and the dreaded international break is upon. And after the combination of the September and October windows, it is a big one with nations set to take to the field four times over the next two weeks.
Liverpool headed into the break off the back of a win, with a 1-0 victory away at AFC Bournemouth maintaining their unbeaten start to the season under Andoni Iraola.
The Reds will return to action on Sunday 11 October as they host league-leaders Man City, taking to the field after a 21-day absence.
The majority of Iraola’s squad have been called up by respective nations. But a handful will be left twiddling their thumbs before club football returns.
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Iraola revealed that Liverpool would still be training at the AXA Training Centre during the break, though he admitted his non-internationals would also be afforded time-off when speaking after his side’s win at Bournemouth.
“We will still train, but it's true that we are training with four or five players because most of the team is playing with the national team,” he said. “The players will have now some days off and then we will keep working with the ones that stay.
“Then we will prepare well for when the others come and you have no more than three days probably to prepare for the [Manchester] City game. We are ready not just for that game, but for the run of games that we have that is going to be demanding.”
In truth, Iraola might have sold himself short by saying only ‘four or five’ players remain with Liverpool actually having as many as 12 players not called up by their countries - though that includes a number of injured stars.
Alisson Becker was one of a number of senior players left out of the Brazil squad by Carlo Ancelotti as the Italian takes to the opportunity to take a look at the next generation, while Wataru Endo retired from international duty after conceding defeat in his effort to be fit for Japan at this summer’s World Cup.
Beyond the pair, Joe Gomez, Freddie Woodman, Luke Chambers, James McConnell and Jayden Danns have also not been called up.
Meanwhile, Conor Bradley, Federico Chiesa, Giovanni Leoni, Hugo Ekitike and Vitezslav Jaros all remained sidelined because of injury, with the quintet continuing their rehabilitation during the international break.
However, the Italian pair could take some vital steps during the forthcoming weeks, with Iraola previously revealing they were on track to return to team training during the international break.
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“I think the next one probably should be Giovanni Leoni,” the Basque revealed at the start of September. “I think the plan is also to start training during the break, with the group. I think even Fede should be around those dates.”
Alisson will perhaps be afforded a longer break than his team-mates, with Liverpool managing the Brazilian carefully following injury-stricken stints in recent seasons.
But with Endo, Gomez, Danns, Chiesa and Leoni all playing catch-up as a result of enforced absences during Iraola’s reign so far, the international break could present the quintet with a perfect opportunity to impress their new head coach in training.
Elsewhere, the likes of Harvey Davies and a number of Liverpool’s younger players will likely take part in training alongside Iraola’s remaining senior stars.
While Kaide Gordon, Owen Beck and Josh Abe have been sidelined by long-term injury, the likes of Mor Talla Ndiaye, Will Wright, Josh Sonnie-Lambie, Lucas Pitt, Wellity Lucky and Michael Laffey have been involved with the first team in the past and have not been called up for international duty during the current break.