International Scout Notes – Saturday

An injury to Marouane Fellaini mars Belgium’s 4-3 classic in Bosnia, while Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante also limps off as France win 1-0 in Bulgaria.

Key goals are scored by Premier League assets in both Europe and Africa, with Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi’s winner propelling Nigeria to the World Cup finals in Russia.

Here are the notes from a night of mixed emotions in the race for World Cup qualification.

Injuries to the fore

If you were a more mean-spirited Chelsea fan watching the 3-4 thriller between Bosnia Herzegovina and Belgium, life was pretty good.

The two players in line to offset the absence of Alvaro Morata in attack – Eden Hazard and Michy Batshuayi – both impressed, with the midfielder setting up a goal and the striker scoring one.

And a key member of title rivals Man United’s midfield, Marouane Fellaini, limped off with a knee injury.

The irony of that particular situation will not have been lost on Jose Mourinho, who was no doubt delighted when his star striker Romelu Lukaku was ruled out of the Bosnia match with an ankle problem, only to potentially lose his in-form replacement for Paul Pogba instead.

Belgium boss Roberto Martinez was less than optimistic about Fellaini’s plight post-match.

“We are all worried about Fellaini. We fear that there’s ligament damage.”

That could well rule the midfielder out of United’s Gameweek 8 trip to Liverpool and beyond, with Mourinho’s men also facing Spurs and Chelsea before November’s final international break of the year.

It also arrives as a bitter lesson learned for the 104,000+ Fantasy Premier League managers who have already acquired Fellaini ahead of the Gameweek 8 trip to Liverpool following his brace in the win over Crystal Palace. Only David Silva enjoyed more transfers in over the break among midfielders.

But it wasn’t all wine and roses for Chelsea fans as one of their key midfield men, N’Golo Kante, was also injured, succumbing to a hamstring issue in France’s 1-0 win in Bulgaria.

France manager Didier Deschamps has already confirmed that Kante is ruled out of Tuesday’s qualifier with Belarus.

“He [Kante] came out with a muscle problem, behind a thigh, he will not be there Tuesday”

Kante (5.1) has been an ever-present for the Blues this season, his consistency of starts and budget price tag attracting 20.9% FPL ownership.

Chelsea’s forthcoming schedule is attractive, but with Champions League fixtures to factor in as well, the strain on their squad will be increased. Losing Kante for any length of time will compromise their solidity and cause concern over Chelsea’s clean sheet potential.

Kante has made more recoveries (69) than any other midfielder this season and ranks second behind Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi for tackles won (28 vs 27).

The Gameweek 8 trip to Crystal Palace is perhaps not an immediate worry. Recent investors in Cesar Azpilicueta – some 43,000+ – will remain confident given that the Eagles are yet to score a single goal this season. However, Kante’s potential absence could dent his prospects ahead of a home clash with a Watford side who have scored in each of their away trips this season.

Belgium’s clash with Bosnia match was a bona fide classic of seven goals, stirring comebacks and a late winner.

They fielded a standard Premier League all-star line-up including Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, who scored on the night, Toby Alderweireld, Fellaini, Kevin De Bruyne, Hazard and Batshuayi.

All bar Fellaini played the full 90 minutes, while Nacer Chadli came on for the last four minutes and Simon Mignolet, Kevin Mirallas, Steven Defour and Divock Origi were unused subs.

Asmir Begovic and Sead Kolasinac started and finished for the hosts, with the Bournemouth keeper credited with an assist for Bosnia’s second goal. Everton midfielder Muhamed Besic played 62 minutes.

Hugo Lloris and Alexandre Lacazette also started for the French, with the latter playing 76 minutes and his Arsenal team-mate Olivier Giroud coming on for a late cameo. Spurs’ Moussa Sissoko watched from the bench.

Goalscorers on two continents

West Ham striker Diafra Sakho followed up his winner for the Hammers against Swansea City with a goal for Senegal in a 2-0 win over Cape Verde Islands.

His club team-mate Cheikhou Kouyaté also featured, as did Everton’s Idrissa Gueye and Liverpool star Sadio Mané, with the latter subbed off after 89 minutes.

Nigeria secured their place in next year’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Zambia.

Leicester’s Ndidi and Chelsea wing-back Victor Moses played the full 90 minutes, but it was Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi who was the star turn, scoring the winner after coming on as a 66-minute substitute.

Iwobi now has two goal in as many matches for club and country and, at 5.1, is a cheap route into an Arsenal side that has a mix of the good (wat eve SWA bur) and the ugly (mci TOT) over the next six Gameweeks.

He has started two of the last three matches for the Gunners, but has featured in only three league fixtures all season, and competition for places in the Arsenal midfield remains intense.

Foxes duo Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa were unused subs for Nigeria.

Brighton midfielder Davy Propper (5.4) scored his first goal of the season as Holland kept their faint chances of a World Cup play-off place alive with a 3-1 win in Belarus.

Everton’s Davy Klaasen replaced him for the final seven minutes, while Virgil van Dijk, Daryl Janmaat, Daley Blind and Georginio Wijnaldum all started and finished the match for the Dutch.

Nathan Aké and Wesley Hoedt were unused substitutes.

Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka scored and Stoke City midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri provided an assist as Switzerland edged ever closer to qualifying for Russia 2018 with a 5-2 win over Hungary.

Elsewhere…

Spurs midfielder Son Heung-min played 79 minutes, and Crystal Palace’s Chung-yong Lee the full match, as South Korea lost 4-2 in a friendly in Russia.

Lee provided assists for both of the Koreans’ late goals.

Popular Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba (13.1%) started and finished Congo DR’s 2-1 win in Libya, Man United centre-half Victor Lindelof played 90 minutes as Sweden thrashed Luxembourg 8-0 and his Liverpool counterpart Ragnar Klavan put in a full shift for Estonia in a 6-0 dismissal of Gibraltar.

Portugal laboured to a 2-0 win in Andorra, with Man City’s Bernardo Silva enjoying a rare start. Southampton full-back Cédric Soares and West Ham centre-back José Fonte stayed on the bench throughout.

Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey got the full 90 minutes for Ghana as they drew 0-0 in Uganda.