The clouds seemed to have lifted at Liverpool after their recent victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, but with their fully deserved 3-0 defeat at the Etihad to Manchester City, the gloom has returned in full force to the Reds.
So much for a peaceful international break for their fans. With their players going off to their national teams, let’s see which members of Liverpool’s squad will likely be watching the World Cup from their couches instead of playing.
Giorgi Mamardashvili
You can’t play in the World Cup if your country doesn’t qualify, and of all the countries that Liverpool’s players represent, Georgia may be in the worst predicament.
The Crusaders’ recent loss away to Türkiye means that they can’t finish second in their qualifying group.
Consigned to third place, they would need not only to win their remaining qualifiers (which are home to Spain and away to Bulgaria) and would also need Romania and Sweden to put on charges in their respective groups just to qualify for a playoff spot.
Great as it would be to see Georgia qualify for their first World Cup ever, I wouldn’t put money on it.
Alexander Isak
Speaking of the Swedes, it’s looking grim for them, too. They must win their remaining matches (away to Switzerland and home to Slovenia) and hope for other results to go their way.
It would really help if one or both of Romania and Wales failed to make second place in their respective groups.
Sweden did just fire head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson and replace him with recently sacked West Ham coach Graham Potter.
That change of leadership might be good, but with Isak goalless in four qualifying matches, he’ll need to find the net if his country’s going to have any chance.
Curtis Jones
Then there are the Liverpool players who are just too low on the depth chart for their countries. Jones has had four caps for England this year, but he looks to be behind Declan Rice, Jack Grealish, Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, Morgan Rogers, Jordan Henderson, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek for England’s midfield, not to mention Jude Bellingham if Thomas Tuchel plays him there instead of on the frontline.
Unless there are a spate of injuries, Jones will have time off this summer.
Joe Gomez
His minor Achilles injury has limited his playing time this season. Aside from that, he’s handicapped by the same issues as Jones, with John Stones, Marc Guéhi, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ezri Konsa, Kyle Walker, and probably Dan Burn and Rico Lewis ahead of him in England’s setup.
He’s good where he is, as a squad defender for the Reds when he’s healthy.
Stefan Bajčetić
And that sound you hear is all the Spain fans laughing at the idea that the defensive midfielder who hasn’t seen a game for Liverpool this season and has never been capped for Spain at the senior level might crack La Roja’s loaded squad for next year. But hey, he fits the criteria for this article, so here he is.