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Liverpool have been informed of injuries to midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott during the international break.
Elliott – along with Adam Wharton, Jaden Philogene, Omari Hutchinson and Sam Tickle – withdrew from the England Under-21 squad earlier this week for the European Championship qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Austria, returning to Anfield for further medical assessment.
Liverpool then received a worrying update on the status of fellow midfielder Mac Allister, who Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said missed training ahead of Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier against Chile due to “pain” and “overload”.
The former Brighton star eventually started that game in Buenos Aires, scoring the opening goal shortly after half-time to put the reigning world champions on course for a comfortable 3-0 victory on the road to 2026 despite the absence of injured talisman Lionel Messi.
However, Mac Allister was replaced with just over 10 minutes remaining at the Mas Monumental stadium, with Paulo Dybala taking his place after Giovani Lo Celso had already replaced the injured Nico Gonzalez.
Asked about the condition of the two players after the match, Scaloni said: “We still don’t know how Nico and Alexis are. They left because they felt discomfort. We’ll see if they can play against Colombia.”
Reports from Argentina claimed on Friday that Mac Allister had an adductor problem and it remained to be seen whether he would be fit to face Colombia in Barranquilla on Tuesday night.
Liverpool have made a fine start to life under Jurgen Klopp’s successor Arne Slot, winning their first three Premier League games without conceding a goal – including an easy 3-0 victory over fierce rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford last time out.
Nottingham Forest travel to Merseyside for their first game back after the current international break, with a trip to AC Milan to follow to begin their return to Champions League action before further high-profile encounters with Bournemouth and Wolves sandwiched between the start of their Carabao Cup defence at home to West Ham.
Elliott has made just one substitute appearance so far this season under Slot, coming off the bench late in the 2-0 home win over Brentford, but Mac Allister has played every minute of the campaign to date and is a crucial figure in midfield.
Should both players be absent, it would then fall to players like Japanese international Wataru Endo to step in and help out regulars Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch.
