Of the nine Liverpool players in international action over the weekend, club captain Virgil Van Dijk and Dutch compatriot Cody Gakpo grabbed the headlines with goals. The winger and central defender both scored in the Oranje’s 4-0 demolition of Finland, which saw them retain the top spot in Group G standings in the World Cup qualifiers. Van Dijk’s header was the second goal of the evening, with Gakpo adding the fourth in the final 10 minutes of regular time.
Elsewhere, Dominik Szoboszlai captained Hungary, playing a full 90 minutes in his country’s 2-0 defeat of Armenia, with Miloš Kerkez coming off in the final minute of regular time.
Andy Robertson captained Scotland to a 2-1 win against Belarus, and assisted his side’s winning goal, seeing Scotland sit second in Group C behind Denmark. Goalkeeper Georgi Mamardashvili had a mixed outing, saving a penalty he himself conceded in Georgia’s 2-0 loss to Spain, as previously reported. Georgia’s World Cup hopes begin to look unlikely, as they sit third on just three points in Group E having, and will need help to overtake second-place Türkiye.
In the youth international ranks, Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni both featured for England, with the former starting before being subbed off in the second half and the latter coming on in the same substitution window.
While injuries to Ibrahima Konaté and Ryan Gravenberch are the major stories of the international break thus far, other Liverpool players being in decent form is certainly cause for celebration as the Reds prepare to face Manchester United on October 19th.