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England ran out winners in a friendly against Wales while
Scotland weathered a COVID-19 scare to win in a Euro 2020 playoff
penalty shootout.
So far so good. The first batch of international fixtures
featuring Liverpool players have been pointlessly played, the
highlight of which was a comfortable 3-0 victory for England over
Wales as a gentle reminder of the British pecking order. Elsewhere,
Andy Robertson’s Scotland labored to a 0-0 draw in normal time
before beating Israel 5-3 in a penalty shootout while Divock Origi made an appearance in Belgium’s
1-1 draw with Ivory Coast.
For Liverpool supporters, the primary concern, of course, for
squad members to survive the encounter injury- and virus-free. On
that front, the first round of fixtures was a resounding success
with Joe Gomez playing 60 minutes, Trent
Alexander-Arnold warming the bench as an unused substitute, academy
youngster Neco Williams earning a runout for the Welsh and
Robertson emerging from captaining his side through the full match
unscathed.
Of note were star performances from ex-Reds, Danny Ings and Conor Coady in the England win.
Current Wolves captain and Liverpool academy graduate, Coady made
his second England call up a memorable one, following up on Dominic
Calvert-Lewin’s opener with his first senior international goal.
Ings then ended the proceedings in style, with the Southampton
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into the England squad after years of injury with a remarkable
strike to make it 3-0.
Love seeing Danny Ings scoring
Man’s on fire pic.twitter.com/RtbeQIhpxC
— Watch LFC (@Watch_LFC) October 8, 2020
Conversely, it was a decidedly drab affair between Scotland and
Israel in comparison, despite the prize of advancement to the Euro
2020 (or whenever it ends up being played) playoff final on the
line make the match much more consequential. Looming in the
background was a positive COVID-19 test for Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong that had
caused late panic within the Scotland camp leading up to the
match.
In the end, Robertson along with the rest of the squad
ultimately tested negative, preventing the defender from becoming
the third Red to come down with the virus following positive tests
for the likes of Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara in recent
weeks.
The international break slogs into a second week as UEFA
continues to insist that it is a good idea to proceed with the
rebranded friendlies that they’re calling the Nations League
despite a global pandemic.