It hasn't been the kindest international break for the majority of Liverpool players hoping to play at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this winter.
Sure, Virgil van Dijk , Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez scored for the Netherlands, Portugal and Uruguay respectively, while Alisson Becker started for Brazil in their victories over Ghana and Tunisia, completing the full 90 minutes in both and keeping a clean sheet in the former, but the rest arguably face an uphill battle to either feature prominently in Qatar or even book their place on the plane come November.
With the September international break being the final window before the World Cup, the opportunity for first-hand auditions under the watchful eye of national managers is now over. As a result, it’s going to take something pretty special from individual players in the next six weeks to change the current reckoning.
