Liverpool's Jordan Henderson captained the England national team for the first time as they struggled to a 0-0 draw away at Slovenia in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night.

The Reds skipper led the Three Lions out in Ljubljana having been nominated the man to step up in the absence of Wayne Rooney, who dropped to the bench.

And though it was undoubtedly a milestone moment in the career of the 26-year-old, Gareth Southgate's side managed only an underwhelming goalless stalemate at the Stožice Stadium.

Henderson, Sturridge and Coutinho all in action

Teammate Daniel Sturridge also started, but like Henderson, the striker was not at his best in a performance in which all of the England side disappointed and performed below expectations.

Despite the draw, they still sit top of Group F - two points ahead of Lithuania, with their final qualifier of the year seeing them take on rivals Scotland at Wembley Stadium in November.

Elsewhere, Philippe Coutinho featured in Brazil's 2-0 victory over Venezuela in the early hours of Wednesday - but compatriot Roberto Firmino was spared having only featured for 23 minutes off the bench in the Selecao's previous clash last week, in which he scored.

Goals from Gabriel Jesus - who will join Manchester City in January - and Chelsea winger Willian helped Tite's Brazil to a 2-0 win as Coutinho played for 83 minutes before being withdrawn.

Reds' internationals all due to return to Liverpool

The pair now embark on a 5,000-mile round trip to return to Merseyside, but should both have time to be available for Monday's huge Premier League showdown with Manchester United at Anfield.

That was the final international action for any Liverpool players until next month, with as many as 10 first-teamers having been out on duty.

Simon Mignolet and Divock Origi were twice unused substitutes for Belgium's comfortable wins over Bosnia & Herzegovina and Gibraltar, while Ragnar Klavan captained Estonia to a 4-0 win over Gibraltar and a 2-0 defeat to Greece earlier this week.

But there was less positive news for Georginio Wijnaldum after he limped out injured in the Netherlands' 1-0 defeat to France on Monday, leaving him in doubt for the clash with United.

Otherwise, Ovie Ejaria, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Marko Grujic, Harry Wilson and Ryan Fulton - currently on loan at Chesterfield - all featured for their country's youth teams.

Alexander-Arnold followed up his two-goal performance last week with a 71-minute cameo in England Under-20s' 2-1 win over Bulgaria, while Grujic played in Serbia U21s' 3-1 win over Slovenia also on Tuesday.

Otherwise, Wilson played 90 minutes as Wales U21s beat Armenia 3-1, with Fulton in goal for Scotland U21s' 2-0 defeat to Macedonia.