There is an awkward irony to the timing of Liverpool’s international break.

Andoni Iraola wanted the interruption. Seven competitive matches into his Liverpool reign, he felt there was value in stepping back, analysing what had worked and identifying what needed to improve.

The problem is that the break has also threatened to take away some of the players who have been central to that process.

Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo both returned from international duty early with injuries, while Hugo Ekitike remains sidelined with the Achilles problem that has kept him out since last season. Iraola confirmed on Wednesday that Isak and Gakpo are “both injured” and that the question is whether either can recover in time to face Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

For Liverpool, that is more significant than simply losing two forwards.

It could force Iraola to reconsider how his team attacks.

Liverpool’s unbeaten start has provided Iraola with a useful platform, but it has not been seamless.

They have won four and drawn three of their opening seven competitive matches, including a 1-0 victory at Bournemouth before the international break. The result was valuable. The performance was less convincing.

Liverpool managed only six efforts on goal at the Vitality Stadium and required Isak’s 57th-minute finish to settle a game in which their attacking play lacked consistency. Gakpo’s run created the opening, with Wirtz involved before the ball eventually reached Isak.

That result also illustrated the importance of the players now under scrutiny.

Isak provided the finishing. Gakpo provided the decisive burst of acceleration and delivery. Barcola offered the threat of running beyond the defence.

Remove two of those three senior attacking options and the shape of the problem changes.

Iraola knows Liverpool have not yet found the balance he wants.

“We try to be more intense, be more vertical — but also want to control the games,” he said this week. “Lately we’ve been controlling the games but we lacked a little bit this offensive fluidity we had in the first games.”

That final part is particularly relevant now.

Liverpool may have to find attacking fluidity without two of the players most capable of producing it.

Isak has scored four Premier League goals already this season and was the player who rescued Liverpool at Bournemouth.

His value, however, extends beyond his finishing.

He gives Liverpool a forward capable of stretching a defensive line, running into the channels and providing a central reference point for the players behind him. That matters in Iraola’s preferred football because verticality is easier to achieve when there is somebody ahead of the ball who defenders have to respect.

Without Isak, Liverpool lose that reference.

Without Ekitike, there is no obvious senior No 9 waiting to take over.

And if Gakpo is also unavailable, the problem becomes considerably more structural.

Liverpool’s registered forwards include Barcola, Federico Chiesa, Victor Munoz, Lewis Koumas, Rio Ngumoha and Jayden Danns alongside Isak, Gakpo and the injured Ekitike.

There is attacking talent there.

What Liverpool do not have is an obvious like-for-like replacement for Isak.

That means the question for Iraola is not necessarily: who plays up front?

It is: what does Liverpool want their attack to look like?

Barcola may be the obvious beneficiary.

The France international has already shown why Liverpool wanted him. His acceleration gives Iraola a direct threat that can turn possession into territory quickly, particularly against a defensive line that has moved forward.

That makes his role against Manchester City potentially crucial.

Liverpool could ask Barcola to stay wide and attack the space behind City’s full-back. They could use him more centrally, allowing another player to occupy the flank. Or they could build the attack around his ability to receive early and carry the ball at defenders.

None of those solutions, though, replicates what Isak provides.

The risk is that Liverpool become too reliant on individual carries rather than creating the connected attacking movements Iraola is trying to establish.

That was part of the issue at Bournemouth.

Liverpool could get into good positions, but they did not consistently turn them into sustained pressure or clear chances. Their win was secured by one good attacking sequence rather than a performance in which their forward line repeatedly overwhelmed Bournemouth.

Manchester City present a much harsher test.

This is where Florian Wirtz becomes particularly interesting.

The German has yet to find the level of influence Liverpool expected when they signed him, but his importance could increase if the recognised forwards disappear.

Wirtz’s role is not simply to score.

He can operate between the lines, connect midfield with attack and create the combinations that allow other players to run beyond him. If Liverpool cannot rely on a conventional centre-forward to stretch City, they may need Wirtz to become the player who makes the attacking structure function.

That could mean more freedom.

It could also mean more responsibility.

Against Bournemouth, Wirtz was involved in the move that ultimately produced Isak’s goal, although Liverpool’s overall attacking performance remained underwhelming.

Against City, Liverpool cannot afford long periods in which their most creative player is disconnected from the rest of the attack.

If Isak is absent, Wirtz may need to become the connector.

If Gakpo is absent too, he may need to become one of the primary creators.

That is a significant burden.

Iraola does not necessarily have to replace Isak with another striker.

He could change the structure.

Szoboszlai could push higher. Wirtz could operate as a false nine. Barcola could attack from the left while another runner occupies the opposite side. Liverpool could use movement rather than a fixed reference point to try to pull City’s centre-backs away from their preferred positions.

That would fit with Iraola’s broader desire for a more fluid, vertical Liverpool.

But it would also demand considerable discipline.

Manchester City are not a side against whom you can simply throw numbers forward and hope the movement works.

Iraola has already identified what went wrong at Newcastle, where Liverpool conceded twice in transition. His response has been to improve control without losing the aggression he wants from his team.

Sunday will test that balance.

If Liverpool commit too many players forward without sufficient protection, City have the quality to punish them.

If Liverpool become too cautious because they lack their preferred forwards, they risk removing the very attacking threat that could make City uncomfortable.

That makes the midfield selection increasingly important.

Dominik Szoboszlai has been one of the constants of Iraola’s early Liverpool side, while Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch offer different ways of controlling the centre.

If Liverpool are short of forward options, there is a temptation to push another midfielder into an advanced position.

Szoboszlai is the obvious candidate.

His physicality, running power and ability to arrive in the box could give Liverpool a different kind of threat. Rather than asking one player to replace Isak, Iraola could ask several players to collectively replace the movements and goals that disappear with him.

That would also make Liverpool harder to predict.

City’s defenders could prepare for Barcola’s pace and Wirtz’s movement, but Liverpool would want midfielders arriving from deeper areas, full-backs providing width and their front players rotating positions.

The trade-off is obvious.

The more aggressive Liverpool become, the more exposed they can become if possession is lost.

And that is precisely the balance Iraola has been talking about.

There is a danger of viewing Sunday’s match purely through the prism of Liverpool’s injuries.

It is more interesting than that.

This is the first genuinely heavyweight examination of Iraola’s Liverpool against a side that has started the season perfectly. Manchester City have won their opening five Premier League matches and will arrive at Anfield as the league leaders.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are still learning what their new manager wants them to be.

Iraola has spoken repeatedly about intensity, verticality and control.

Now he may have to demonstrate all three without the attacking line he expected to have.

That could make Sunday less about finding an Isak replacement and more about finding a new way to attack.

If Isak recovers, the problem becomes easier.

If Gakpo recovers, Liverpool retain another player capable of stretching the pitch and creating from wide areas.

If neither does, Iraola will have to improvise.

That does not necessarily mean Liverpool will be weaker.

It could mean they look different.

Barcola’s pace could become more important. Wirtz could move closer to the centre of the attacking structure. Szoboszlai could become a greater goal threat from midfield. Liverpool’s full-backs could be asked to provide more width and their rotations could become more important than the presence of a conventional No 9.

But against Manchester City, those changes cannot be experimental for their own sake.

They have to work.

The situation is not settled yet.

Iraola’s comments on Wednesday were deliberately cautious. Isak and Gakpo are injured, but Liverpool have not ruled either player out. Their condition will be assessed before Sunday’s match.

The next significant update will come on Friday, when Iraola holds his pre-match press conference at the AXA Training Centre. Liverpool have confirmed it will begin at 1.30pm BST.

By then, Liverpool should have a clearer idea of the personnel available to them.

The tactical question, however, is already clear.

Iraola wanted this international break to give him time to understand what Liverpool are and what they still need to become.

He may now have been handed a rather abrupt way of finding out.

If Isak and Gakpo are absent, Liverpool cannot simply replace them and carry on as normal.

They will have to rethink how they create danger.

And against Manchester City, that could be the most revealing test yet of what Iraola is building at Anfield.