Jurgen Klopp has already hinted he will bench Liverpool star who won’t be ‘disappointed’

The international contingent will soon reassemble at the AXA Training Centre. Returning from St George's Park to Greece, Paris to Portugal and the rest, Liverpool's squad have been to what seems to be every corner of the world over the past 10 days.

Like every Premier League manager, Jurgen Klopp will scarcely be enthused that some of his troops have jetted thousands of miles during the international break and had to adjust to new time zones and climates. And the Reds manager will likely be frustrated that his side are yet again in action at 12.30 BST when the Premier League season recommences.

It is the 13th time during Klopp's eight-year Anfield reign that Liverpool have been handed the lunchtime kick-off after an international break. It'll be 14 when they face Manchester City next month.

A home clash is a minor consolation. Yet the game Klopp has to prepare the Reds for is one that'll be high-octane and as intense as they come - the Merseyside derby against Everton.

It's as cliche as cliches can be but form does go out of the window in the fixture. Liverpool are the heavy favourites with the bookmakers, which is scarcely a surprise considering Everton have won at Anfield only twice since 1999.

Every player is required to be on their mettle. Sean Dyche's side will pose a physical threat and carry significant potency on the counter-attack despite languishing 16th in the table and winning only two top-flight games so far.

When Klopp ponders his starting line-up, he will be considering how many minutes his players have recorded for their respective countries as well as where and when matches have been played.

What's more, Klopp will be mulling over Liverpool's 3-1 win over Wolves last month, which also place after the international break.

On that occasion, it was somewhat startling to see Alexis Mac Allister named in the starting line-up at Molineux. The summer signing from Brighton featured from the outset despite having only represented Argentina in the early hours of the Wednesday morning UK time - and he lasted just 45 minutes.

Mac Allister picked up an early booking and lost possession several times in the first half. Liverpool found themselves a goal behind at the interval and the 24-year-old was hardly the only player to underperform. Yet he did not reemerge for the second period - and Klopp admitted Mac Allister was not angered by the decision.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, the Liverpool boss said: “The good thing about the first half was that it was that bad that I didn’t think we could play the second half like that. Obviously, we wanted to start completely differently, but for whatever reason it was not possible for the boys, you can see it.

“Low energy level, Macca, some others as well, you could just see they struggled. We couldn’t change five times at half-time, so we thought we’d change the system and one player, and give us a bit more speed up front, natural speed. He had some good moments in the first half but he was not disappointed to come off, more relief.”

During the latest round of internationals, Mac Allister has continued to remain a key player for Argentina, having thrust himself into their starting line-up on the road to World Cup glory in Qatar last year. He played the entirety of wins over Paraguay and Peru.

Klopp isn't going to be awash with midfield options when Liverpool face Everton. Curtis Jones must serve the second of a three-match suspension while Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic are both doubts - and are unlikely to be in a condition to start even if available given their lengthy respective injury issues.

Dominik Szoboszlai is nailed on to feature with Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott also in the frame. But for Mac Allister, he may have to settle for a place on the bench for the first time in his Liverpool career in the Premier League.