PREMIER LEAGUE clubs face losing their international stars for the next round of fixtures.
Teams want their players to leave their camps with South American countries early.
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Nations such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay each have fixtures on Thursday night in South America.
That means they kick-off in the early hours of Friday morning by UK time – less than 36 hours before Watford and Liverpool get underway in the lunchtime game on October 16.
As reported by the Daily Mail, talks are ongoing between clubs and the relevant federations to try and reach an agreement allowing the players to skip the final matches.
The Premier League clubs appreciate their players’ desire to represent their countries and the South American FAs are not budging as of yet.
Aston Villa, Chelsea, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are all affected by the issue.
Reds duo Fabinho and Allison are unlikely to make it back in time for the clash at Vicarage Road.
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Liverpool did request the match was pushed back to 7.45pm but Watford rejected the proposal.
However, the rest of the clubs are hoping to arrange travel in order to fly their players back in time to play next weekend – even if they feature in the final round of internationals.
United, City, Villa and Leeds play at 3pm on the Saturday with Chelsea travelling to Brentford for the 5.30pm game.
Spurs, meanwhile, face Newcastle away on the Sunday afternoon.
The latest battle between clubs and countries comes just days after Premier League players were given the green light to avoid hotel quarantine upon their return from red-list countries if they are fully vaccinated.
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