Arne Slot handed extra international boost for 9 players before Chelsea visit

Liverpool have 19 senior players currently representing their respective nations across the globe, but Arne Slot will be thankful for a number of early return dates this month.

Amazingly, the Reds do not have a 12.30pm kickoff immediately following the international break – a fate that befell Jurgen Klopp a ridiculous number of times.

Instead, Chelsea are the visitors next Sunday in a 4.30pm kickoff. It allows Slot more time with his whole squad, but he will be welcoming some players back a lot earlier than usual.

For starters, Caoimhin Kelleher, Kostas Tsimikas, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones all see their respective country play their final Game this break on Sunday evening.

This would mean they are free to return to Merseyside on Monday, six days before the next Premier League fixture – very early by normal standards.

They will then be swiftly followed by the contingent of Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch, all of whom will sign off on Monday evening.

This would enable the quintet to report back on Tuesday. It would not be surprising to see the club hand them a day off, but they are at least free of any injury concerns as Slot plans ahead.

That group of nine will regroup with those who were left out of their international team, including Vitezslav Jaros, Joe Gomez and the injured trio of Alisson, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa.

It makes for a welcome boost for Slot and his coaches as he plots out the next run of seven games in 21 days.

The abovementioned Reds will all have a head start on the remaining senior players to return to the AXA, which includes Jarell Quansah, Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.

They are all involved until Tuesday evening, with long journeys back to Liverpool for the South American trio, meaning they are unlikely to return to full training until Thursday.