Impact of injuries during international break on El Clasico between Liverpool vs. Manchester United and Real Madrid vs. Barcelona

As the second international break of the season draws to a close, there are some concerns about the suitability of star players from top teams across Europe.

Arne Slott’s side host the Red Devils on Sunday, October 19th, but there are continuing concerns that several key players could be left out of the Crunch game.

One of the big headlines during France’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in FIFA World Cup qualifying was the untimely sending off of Kylian Mbappé, who was sent off in the 83rd minute.

The Frenchman appeared to suffer a similar ankle injury in the game against Villarreal before leaving his home country, and subsequently missed Les Bleus’ 2-2 draw with Iceland.

One player who may not be so lucky is former Bournemouth defender Dean Heusen, who left the Spain camp without training with a calf problem.

Elsewhere, long-term doubters Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold face a race against time to qualify for Clasico.

Antonio Rudiger remains sidelined with a thigh injury, while Ferland Mendy is expected to return to training in the coming days after a six-month break due to a ruptured proximal tendon.

Barcelona’s situation on the absentee list is not very good, with Robert Lewandowski being the latest in a long list of questions regarding his fitness.

The fitness of Lamine Yamal and Fermin López could be crucial in the coming weeks, with the derby against Girona next up and the Champions League game against Olympiakos coming up.

Both returned to training this week, with Yamal continuing to battle a recurring groin issue and Lopez dealing with a muscle injury sustained in September.

However, Rafinha is yet to return to the training ground and there are fears that he, like Lewandowski, will miss the match against Real Madrid.

Dani Olmo, Gabi, Joao Garcia and Marc-Andre ter Stegen remain long-term absentees.

The former was sent off in the recent game against Chelsea, despite being sidelined on international duty with France.

However, Konate also left the French camp early without appearing for his country’s national team against Azerbaijan, and it is unclear whether he will be able to make it in time for the match against the Red Devils.

The slot could be without Grafenwerch after the midfielder was substituted at half-time in the Netherlands’ 4-0 win over Finland on Sunday.

“Ryan indicated that he was feeling some slight discomfort in his hamstring. We obviously didn’t take any risks with that,” Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman told NOS.

Fellow Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo also did not travel to join the Japanese national team as he is dealing with a hamstring strain.

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

As for United, Lisandro Martínez has returned to training but is likely to be sidelined from first-team action for some time due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in February.

Nousair Mazraoui is still recovering from the problem he suffered in the 2-1 win against Chelsea, and Ruben Amorim said afterwards that the problem would keep him out until the end of the international break.

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