Liverpool FC News
Why FIVE Liverpool stars have ALL travelled to Dominik Szoboszlai’s homeland
Six Liverpool players will be playing in Hungary as part of their respective countries Nations League campaigns.
You’d be inclined to think five of these players will be facing Dominik Szoboszlai’s side in some capacity. However, that isn’t the case.
Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo will face Szoboszlai in the upcoming fixture in the competition on Friday, however Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate will be playing their fixtures in Hungary for a different reason.
Why are Konate and Bradley playing in Hungary?
Konate and France played Israel in the Bozsik Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Thursday night for the third match-day of the Nations League, amid heightened security measures.
Following the Hamas attack against the Israeli state in October last year and the subsequent extensive counteroffensive by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, UEFA has prohibited the organisation of matches in Israel “until further notice”.
Initially, Israel had secured a postponement of its matches scheduled for the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Those matches were later rescheduled for the following month with Hungary being decided as the host venue for the country’s matches.
Didier Deschamps’ side started their campaign with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Israel but bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Belgium.
Bradley and Northern Ireland will play Belarus behind closed doors on Saturday (12 October) in Zalaegerszeg, a rural town in Hungary.
Belarus are not allowed to have fans at their games due to FIFA sanctions after the country’s part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and must play European competitions in a neutral venue.
Michael O’Neill will be keen to get his side’s Nations League campaign back on track after they suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to Bulgaria in the last window.




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