The final international break of the year is over as all 32 teams competing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November completed their final preparations for the upcoming tournament, with plenty of Premier League stars in action.
It wasn’t just teams competing in the World Cup who were playing, however, with the final round of UEFA Nations League fixtures also taking place to determine a number of promotions and relegations, as well as a place in next year’s finals.
Mirror Football tells you all you need to know about the Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United players who were in action during the international break, including when they played and how they got on.
Arsenal
Bukayo Saka played for 71 minutes at left-wing back in England’s 1-0 defeat to Italy on Friday, before coming off the bench to assist a Mason Mount equaliser in Monday’s 3-3 draw with Germany at Wembley Stadium. Aaron Ramsdale was also called up, but did not feature.
Kieran Tierney starred in Scotland’s victories over Ukraine and Republic of Ireland last week, but returned to Arsenal early after a clash of heads in the second fixture. William Saliba featured in France’s games against Austria and Denmark, while Granit Xhaka played the full 90 minutes in both of Switzerland’s victories over Spain and Czech Republic.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Matt Turner went head-to-head during Japan’s 2-0 victory over the United States on Friday, before Turner kept a clean sheet against Saudi Arabia four days later. Thomas Partey was called up for Ghana, but withdrew in the warm-up before last week’s clash with Brazil.
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Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold was an unused substitute for England’s loss against Italy and was controversially dropped ahead of Monday’s draw with Germany, although Jordan Henderson made a late cameo appearance off the bench in that game. Harvey Elliott was also in action for the under-21’s, featuring in both of their victories against the same opposition.
Elsewhere in Europe, Virgil Van Dijk helped Netherlands qualify for the Nations League finals next year with two clean sheets in wins over Poland and Belgium, scoring against the latter, while Diogo Jota also scored in Portugal’s 4-0 defeat of Czech Republic on Saturday. He couldn’t stop Spain from winning 1-0 in the following fixture, however.
Kostas Tsimikas and Luis Diaz both completed 90 minutes on two occassions for Greece and Colombia, respectively, while Darwin Nunez scored for Uruguay against Canada on Tuesday. Mohamed Salah scored twice for Egypt against Niger on Friday, while Alisson featured in Brazil’s victories over Ghana and Tunisia. Fabinho also featured against the Black Stars, but Roberto Firmino failed to play a single minute of action.
Man Utd
Harry Maguire played the full 90 minutes in both of England’s games against Italy and Germany, but was at fault for two goals in that 3-3 draw with Die Mannschaft. Luke Shaw also featured in both games and scored against Hansi Flick’s side on Monday.
Diogo Dalot grabbed two goals for Portugal in their 4-0 win against Czech Republic last week, with Bruno Fernandes also on the scoresheet and Cristiano Ronaldo completing 90 minutes - Fernandes and Ronaldo also featured in the defeat to Spain. Christian Eriksen started twice for Denmark, while Raphael Varane captained France against Austria.
Tyrell Malacia was in action for the Netherlands, as was Scott McTominay for Scotland against Ukraine and Ireland. In South America, Facundo Pellistri played 45 minutes for Uruguay against Iran, Lisandro Martinez helped Argentina to wins over Honduras and Jamaica, while Casemiro, Antony and Fred all played parts in two big Brazil victories.
