Arne Slot faces Liverpool nightmare days into job as Gareth Southgate and co delighted

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is facing a nightmare after succeeding Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield dugout as nine of his first-team stars could miss the Reds’ pre-season tour to the USA due to their international commitments. Slot was appointed Liverpool boss earlier this year following a three-year spell in charge of Feyenoord.

Liverpool will head to the States at the end of the month to face Arsenal in Philadelphia on July 31 ahead of a showdown with Manchester United in South Carolina three days later.

And Slot will be looking to make a good impression ahead of the new Premier League campaign, which gets underway in mid-August.

But the Dutchman could be without England duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez after Gareth Southgate’s side secured victory over Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on Saturday night.

Netherlands trio Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch may also be absent after their Dutch team saw off Turkey in the other last-eight fixture at the weekend. The two groups of players are set to go head-to head on Wednesday night when England take on the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Reds defender Ibrahima Konate is still involved at the tournament in Germany, with his France team scheduled to face Spain in the last-four on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, three Liverpool players are still in action at the Copa America, with Darwin Nunez helping Uruguay to a quarter-final penalty shootout victory over Brazil in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Nunez’s team are set to face Luis Diaz’s Colombia in the semi-finals next week after the 2001 champions thrashed Panama in their last-eight encounter.

Alexis Mac Allister will also feature for Argentina in the semi-finals as his country are scheduled to play against Canada.

Liverpool usually hand their players a three-week break in the aftermath of international tournaments, which means some of the Reds stars may not return to Merseyside until August.

Slot will at least be hoping to see Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker and Portugal forward Diogo Jota in action in north America after their international commitments came to an end following their countries’ respective tournament exits.

Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo, meanwhile, will be available for the tour as the duo won’t be representing their countries at the Olympic Games, while Scotland defender Andy Robertson and Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai could also feature in the States.