Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott and Alexis MacAllister are both out with injuries.
Harvey Elliott has left England’s under-21 squad during the international break.
The offensive midfielder returns to Liverpool for a ‘further medical assessment’. Elliott captains the young Lions, but he will miss Friday’s European Championship 2025 qualifier against Northern Ireland and Monday’s friendly against Austria. According to an England announcement, “Matthew Cox, Tom Fellows, and Jonathan Rowe have joined the England MU21s ahead of their upcoming fixtures against Northern Ireland and Austria.”
“Harvey Elliott, Omari Hutchinson, Jaden Philogene, and Sam Tickle initially reported at St George’s Park earlier this week but have since returned to their respective clubs for further medical evaluation. Adam Wharton will also miss the upcoming games, as the midfielder remains with his club on medical advice.
Elliott has played few minutes in Liverpool’s first three Premier League games of the 2024-25 season. He has only appeared for seven minutes, in a 2-0 win over Brentford, and has been an unused substitute in triumphs against Ipswich and Manchester United. So far, Dominik Szoboszlai has been Arne Slot’s preferred offensive midfielder.
Still, with Liverpool’s Champions League and Carabao Cup campaigns starting later this month, the manager will want all of his players available.
Certainly, Slot will be praying that Alexis MacAllister does not return with a fitness issue. The midfielder has played every minute of this season and has left to represent Argentina. However, the 25-year-old has not trained ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Chile (01.00 BST).
Manager Lionel Scaloni told TyC Sports: “Alexis did not train because he was overwhelmed and in pain. It usually happens to us; they show up to do their bit.”We’ll wait to see how he reacts today. It doesn’t impact our style of play much because we’ll continue to play the same way, but he does provide us with play and set pieces. The remainder of the team has more or less decided.”
Meanwhile, Curtis Jones has missed Liverpool’s last two games. The 23-year-old did not train before the Reds’ victory over Manchester United.
Liverpool will also use the international break to improve Federico Chiesa’s fitness. The winger joined Liverpool from Juventus last week, but was left out of the matchday squad versus United due to a lack of fitness. Chiesa has not been named in Italy’s squad to allow him to adjust to his new surroundings and establish match sharpness.