Liverpool’s international break has already cost them a captain. Virgil van Dijk has withdrawn from the Netherlands squad, and Dominik Szoboszlai’s availability for Hungary will, by his federation’s own admission, be settled at the last minute. Most of the others are about to play, with France, England and Spain in action on Thursday night and the rest from Friday.

The Reds have no earlier break piece, but the background is in our Van Dijk injury update and the Szoboszlai return-date post.

Who is playing, and when

Liverpool’s own internationals guide lists the first-team players below. No Liverpool player has played a minute on duty yet, so there are no goals or minutes to report.

Van Dijk’s absence

The Dutch FA said on Monday that Van Dijk and Brian Brobbey had pulled out of the squad for the last two Nations League group games because they were not fit. The Netherlands have named no replacements, so the squad is down to 23. Van Dijk has played all 900 league minutes this season, so a rest is not the worst outcome for Liverpool, though the club have not said what the problem is. The FPL app lists him at a 75% chance of playing.

That leaves Gakpo as Liverpool’s Dutch representative for Friday’s game against Greece in Amsterdam, where he will face his club team-mate Tsimikas, and then for Germany in Berlin on Monday.

Szoboszlai and the Iraola worry

Szoboszlai came off after 69 minutes of the 3-1 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Andoni Iraola said he was “not 100%” after extending the knee. Hungary’s federation said its medics will do “everything possible” to have the captain available for Saturday’s trip to Georgia, but that any decision will “almost certainly only be made at the last minute”. Hungary sit second in Nations League Group B2, one point behind Northern Ireland, whom they meet in Budapest on 17 November.

Iraola’s view is clear enough. “The last thing we need now is to lose players in the international games,” he said. After the last window Szoboszlai, Isak and Gakpo all missed the 3-0 defeat by Manchester City. Our view is that Szoboszlai should sit out Georgia: a decider against Northern Ireland is the match Hungary actually need him for, and Liverpool need him against United.

The big moments still to come

Sweden’s squad includes Isak, and a win over Bosnia on Saturday is enough to take them up to the Nations League A division, according to TV4. The panel ruling on the penalty he should have won is covered separately.

Gakpo and Wirtz meet in Berlin on Monday, with the Netherlands and Germany facing off. Mac Allister and Araujo line up on opposite sides in Argentina against Uruguay on Friday. Ngumoha is in England’s squad for Croatia on Thursday, and Munoz’s Spain are the opponents in Madrid on Sunday 15 November. Lewis Koumas, 21, has 16 Wales caps and one international goal, scored against Ghana in June; Craig Bellamy said “I like what Liverpool have done with him” before the trip to Norway on Saturday at 5pm.

What it means for Liverpool

Liverpool are fourth in the table. Frimpong (hamstring) and Ekitike (Achilles) are out with no return date in the FPL data, so any further loss from the international games would hurt. Iraola gets his players back for Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday 22 November at 16:30. Our Man Utd predicted lineup covers the other side. Trey Nyoni is also away with England Under-21s, who play Portugal in Bristol on Friday.