How international break injuries could impact Liverpool v Manchester United and Real Madrid v Barcelona El Clasico clash

The second international break of the season is drawing to a close and there are some concerns about the fitness of star talent at top teams around Europe.

Arne Slot’s side host The Red Devils on Sunday, October 19 and worries persist over a number of crucial individuals who could be ruled out of the crunch clash.

One of the major headlines from France’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in FIFA World Cup qualifying was the premature departure of Kylian Mbappe, who was forced off in the 83rd minute.

The Frenchman appeared to injure his ankle, as he did against Villarreal before going away with his country, and subsequently missed Les Bleus’ 2-2 draw with Iceland.

One player who may not be so fortunate is ex-Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen, who picked up a calf issue and left the Spain camp without training.

Elsewhere, longer-term doubts Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold face a race against time to feature in the Clasico.

Antonio Rudiger remains sidelined with a thigh injury and Ferland Mendy will return to training in the coming days after a six-month lay-off with a ruptured proximal tendon.

Barcelona are not faring much better with their list of absentees and Robert Lewandowski is the latest in a long line of fitness doubts.

With a derby against Girona next up and then a Champions League fixture to fulfil against Olympiacos, the fitness of Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez could be critical for the coming weeks.

Both returned to training this week, as Yamal continues to struggle with a recurring groin problem and Lopez deals with a muscle injury sustained in September.

However, Raphinha is yet to return to the training ground and there are worries that, like Lewandowski, he could miss the date with Real Madrid.

Dani Olmo, Gavi, Joan Garcia and Marc-Andre ter Stegen remain longer-term absentees.

The former went away on France duty despite coming off the field prematurely in his latest outing against Chelsea.

But Konate also left the French camp early, without featuring for his country against Azerbaijan, and it is unclear whether he will recover in time to face The Red Devils.

Slot could be without Gravenberch, too, after the midfielder was substituted at half-time in the Netherlands’ 4-0 win over Finland on Sunday.

Dutch boss Ronald Koeman told NOS: “Ryan indicated he was experiencing some minor hamstring discomfort. We obviously didn’t take any risks with that.”

Fellow Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo did not travel to link up with the Japanese national team, as he is also dealing with a hamstring complaint.

Alisson and Giovanni Leoni are Liverpool’s other longer-term injury concerns.

As for United, Lisandro Martinez has returned to training, though his ACL injury suffered in February is likely to keep him out of first-team action for a little while longer.

Noussair Mazraoui is still recovering from an issue sustained in the 2-1 win over Chelsea, after which Ruben Amorim said the problem would keep him out until after the international break.

There has been no forthcoming update on the Moroccan’s fitness and it is unclear whether he will be fit enough to return to play at Anfield.