Arne Slot makes admission about tired Liverpool trio ahead of Southampton trip

Liverpool boss Arne Slot will run the rule over his three South American stars ahead of a pivotal week in his team’s season.

Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez have undergone gruelling flights back home to represent Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay respectively during the International break.

And Slot admits he will be taking no chances with his selection with games against Real Madrid and Manchester City following the trip to Southampton.

Diaz played 180 minutes for Colombia as they lost back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Nunez’s Uruguay and Ecuador. Nunez featured for 90 minutes in that tie after being substituted at half-time in the 1-1 draw with Brazil.

Mac Allister featured for 89 minutes of Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Peru after being substituted after 64 minutes when the world champions lost to Paraguay.

Slot said: "I will particularly keep an eye on the players that have come back from South America - and that is not only Macca. It’s also Darwin and Lucho.

"You have to keep an eye on them, especially the ones who played twice for 90 minutes. You see how they are doing, how fit they are, you talk to them a bit more about how they feel - more than I do with the ones who played in Europe."

Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz

Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz may need their minutes managed after gruelling flights back from the continent

Slot has been able to welcome back Harvey Elliott, who is back in training ahead of the trip to Southampton following two months out with a foot injury.

"Harvey is training with us again so that’s the positive thing, he has been out for many weeks but he is on the training ground again with the team. So, that’s a positive thing for him,” said the head coach on Friday.

“But that is different than being on the top of your game immediately again. So we have to give him time for this as well, but I am very fortunate that he is back, especially with the amount of games coming up in the upcoming two, three or four months."

Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota are out of the Southampton clash, though captain Virgil van Dijk is available for selection despite missing the Netherlands' Nations League game against Bosnia and Hezegovina on Tuesday.