A number of Liverpool players will continue to train at the AXA Training Centre during the international break

No sooner had Liverpool celebrated returning to winning ways against Crystal Palace, bouncing back after successive losses to Arsenal and Fenerbahce, and they were waving the majority of Andoni Iraola’s squad off on international duty for the final break of the calendar year.

Whether the break has come at a good or bad time for the Reds depends upon your point of view. Having won at Selhurst Park, Liverpool’s momentum has perhaps been disrupted by the latest international window - especially given clashes with bitter-rivals Manchester United and Everton await later this month.

However, given the Reds’ current injury list, a two-week respite is perhaps not the worst thing in the world for Iraola’s walking wounded as Liverpool hope to see a number of players edge closer to making their respective returns when club football resumes.

The Reds’ next game is against United at Anfield on November 22, by which point the Red Devils will almost certainly have a new manager after opening talks with Mauricio Pochettino as club officials weigh up whether to sack Michael Carrick.

Liverpool lost Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai to injury during the last international break, resulting in Iraola being forced to field a makeshift attack against Man City as the Reds’ fell to a 3-0 defeat on their Premier League return.

The Basque will be waiting anxiously, hoping the latest break is kinder to his squad with 15 senior players currently away with their nations.

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However, a significant number will be left twiddling their thumbs and working at the AXA Training Centre during the break, before club football returns.

The Reds have as many as 15 players who aren’t currently away with their respective nations, though that includes a number of injured stars.

Virgil van Dijk withdrew from the Netherlands squad due to a minor injury, with the Dutchman revealing after the victory over Crystal Palace that he had been playing through the pain in recent weeks.

"Physically I’ve been struggling with a little niggle the last couple of weeks,” he revealed. “But I do everything in my power to be out there.”

Iraola will hope that a two-week rest during the international break will be exactly what Van Dijk needs to shake off the issue ahead of facing Manchester United.

The Basque will also hope that Ryan Gravenberch and Jeremie Frimpong will be fit to return against the Red Devils, having been left out of the Netherlands squad after being sidelined by heel and muscle injuries respectively in recent weeks.

Alisson Becker was again one of a number of senior players left out of the Brazil squad by Carlo Ancelotti as the Italian takes the opportunity to look at the next generation, while Wataru Endo retired from international duty after conceding defeat in his effort to be fit for Japan at this summer’s World Cup.

Federico Chiesa has also not been called up by Italy with manager Roberto Mancini admitting the forward needs to improve his fitness before he can be considered for a recall, having featured for just two minutes for Liverpool this season after recovering from a back injury.

Elsewhere, Joe Gomez, Freddie Woodman, Luke Chambers, James McConnell and Jayden Danns have also not been called up by their countries.

Meanwhile, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Hugo Ekitike and Vitezslav Jaros all remained sidelined because of long-term injury, with the quartet continuing their rehabilitation during the international break.

However, Iraola has previously suggested that both Leoni and Bradley could return to team training following the November international break, with the pair - along with Frimpong following his recent muscle injury - waiting to be given the go-ahead by the club's medical team to return.

Leoni had previously been pencilled in to return during the last break, only for his comeback to be delayed.

“It’s taking more time than we wanted,” Iraola admitted last month. “The planning was to train with the team in this past international break (but) probably it’s going to be in the next international break, so we’ve lost one month in the process.

“Giovanni’s injury, I wasn’t here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL.

“He has to be very confident, the rehab process has to be very careful with him and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays there in a good place.

“It’s true that we’ve had, not a setback, but a little bit of a delay, if you want. The plan now is he starts in the next break. It’s not that far but it’s a little bit later than we expected, yes.”

Meanwhile, the Liverpool head coach also revealed last month that Bradley was closing in on a return to light training with his team-mates.

"They are both doing very well," Iraola said last month when offering an update on both Bradley and Ekitike. "I think they are in a good place. Conor is not so far from training with the group – not like full training but doing some things with the group.

"Hugo is a little bit behind that but that was always the plan. He is still doing very well according to the plan.

"It’s difficult (to put a timescale on them both). When they have been injured for so long it’s difficult to say but I think Conor is not very far from starting doing things with us."

The international break will offer a valuable fortnight for Leoni, Bradley and Ekitike to make important steps in their ongoing rehabilitations as they look to return to fitness before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, it could also hand the likes of Chiesa, Endo and Danns an opportunity to build up their fitness and impress their new head coach, having barely featured so far this season after being left playing catch-up following injury.

In contrast, Alisson will perhaps be afforded a longer break than his team-mates, with Liverpool managing the Brazilian carefully following injury-stricken stints in recent seasons.

And it would not be a surprise to see Van Dijk and Gravenberch afforded extra rest too as the Reds wait for the pair to heal up ahead of Liverpool's return to club action - especially with the festive period slowly coming into sight over the horizon.