Liverpool saw their remaining World Cup contingent halved on Friday as six international Reds actively competing in Qatar dropped to three in the first round of quarter-finals.
Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk were both unable to stop Brazil and the Netherlands exiting the tournament as they lost penalty shootouts to Croatia and Argentina respectively. With Fabinho also eliminated after remaining an unused substitute for Selecao, it leaves Ibrahima Konate or Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold as Liverpool’s last men standing, depending on the outcome of England’s own quarter-final clash with France.
Having seen Mohamed Salah ’s form drop following his own mid-campaign international exploits last season, twice suffering penalty shootout heartache with Egypt as they first lost to Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations final before failing to qualify for the World Cup at the hands of the same opponents, Jurgen Klopp will be hoping his defensive linchpins are at least able to avoid a World Cup hangover.
