Havertz, Isak, Dorgu … spate of injuries with national teams leaves sour taste for top clubs

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The phrasing, also offered for Declan Rice’s absence, is borrowed from the NBA, where basketball’s star players are asked to negotiate an 82-game regular season before the playoffs. Playing for Greece against the Netherlands, Tzolis pulled his shirt over his head after injuring a hamstring.

A further scare came when Max Dowman, playing for England Under-19s, left the field after taking a heavy tackle.There is better news for Martin Ødegaard, the recipient of a hefty challenge from Portugal’s Bernardo Silva when playing for Norway on the first Sunday of the break. It was all part of the plan, with the Norway head coach, Ståle Solbakken, saying: “For those who play in the Champions League and have had little vacation, it’s more brutal than for the others.” Haaland will be centre stage when Manchester City travel to Liverpool for their first match since the club was found guilty of 100-plus breaches of Premier League financial regulations.

United’s Patrick Dorgu pulled up with a hamstring injury when playing for Denmark. Spurs’ relief that Micky van der Ven’s hand injury was not serious was tempered by Jan Paul van Hecke’s foot injury, while the World Cup winner Pedro Porro missed Spain’s assignments and will not return in time for the trip to Old Trafford.The injuries are not confined to English football.