Liverpool handed new Alexis Mac Allister injury worry after Harvey Elliott return

Liverpool have been handed injury concerns over 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 England’s Under-21 squad earlier this week for European Championship qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Austria, returning to Anfield for further medical assessment.

Liverpool then got a concerning update on the status of midfield colleague Mac Allister, whom Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said missed training ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Chile on Thursday night due to being “in pain” and “overloaded”.

The former Brighton star did end up starting that match in Buenos Aires, scoring the opening goal shortly after half-time to set 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 a knock with just over 10 minutes to play at El Estadio Mas Monumental, with Paulo Dybala taking his place after Giovani Lo Celso had already come on for an injured Nico Gonzalez.

Asked for an update on that duo after the game, Scaloni said: “We still don’t know how Nico and Alexis are. They left because they were having discomfort. We’ll see if they can play against Colombia.”

Reports from Argentina on Friday claimed that Mac Allister had an adductor issue and it remained to be seen if 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 all of his first three Premier League matches in charge without conceding a single goal - including an easy 3-0 victory over fierce rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford last time out.

Nottingham Forest visit Merseyside in the first game back after the current international break, with a trip to AC Milan to follow to begin their Champions League return before more top-flight meetings with Bournemouth and Wolves are sandwiched between the start of their Carabao Cup defence at home to West Ham.

Elliott has made only 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.

If both players were to end up missing any time, then the onus would be on the likes of Japan international Wataru Endo to step up and help starters Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch.