International Scout Notes – Tuesday

Liverpool’s wide men get among the goals again, while Alvaro Morata and Gylfi Sigurdsson both bag a brace apiece for Spain and Iceland respectively.

Alexis Sanchez shrugs off an injury scare to play the full 90 minutes for Chile and Swansea’s cut-price frontman Tammy Abraham delivers for the England Under 21s.

Here’s the notes on a busy night of action…

Liverpool trio all in action

Roberto Firmino, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane continue to dominate Fantasy Premier League managers’ thoughts.

Only Romelu Lukaku is owned by more bosses than the Brazilian among strikers, while the Reds’ wide men remain in the top four for midfielders.

All were in action last night.

Firmino started but drew a blank as Brazil were held 1-1 in Colombia, while Mo Salah scored an early, and decisive, goal as Egypt saw off Uganda 1-0, with West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi completing a second 90 minutes of the international break.

Mane, meanwhile, was the pick of the bunch. He found the net and added an assist as Senegal drew 2-2 in Burkina Faso, with Everton’s Idrissa Gueye setting up the Liverpool man’s goal.

Jurgen Klopp’s men have a mixed schedule to come – mci, BUR, lei, new, MAN, tot – but that’s not dampened the desire for the trio as all three are in the top six for Gameweek 4 transfers-in.

Firmino (260,000+) leads the way and played just 63 minutes over the international break, Salah is third with 162,000 new owners and 180 minutes of action under his belt, while Mane (142,000) is sixth, having also played two full matches for his country.

Philippe Coutinho will also be on Klopp’s mind. Last season’s talisman started, scored and played the full match for Brazil against Ecuador before being handed a further 15 minutes from the bench against Colombia yesterday.

Any doubts about his fitness seem to have been laid to rest, but what state he is in mentally following his protracted non-move to Barcelona is yet to be discovered.

Klopp has made it clear that he wants to welcome the 8.8-priced star back into the fold, but FPL managers remain cautious – a mere 3,600+ have taken a punt on him this week, and he is owned overall by just 2.0%.

Elsewhere, Welsh tyro Ben Woodburn was at it again, providing an assist as Wales won 2-0 in Moldova.

Silva shines on mixed night for City stars

David Silva produced a goal and assist for Spain in an 8-0 rout of Lichtenstein.

The Man City midfielder started both matches for his country over the international break and his contribution last night built on a solid start to the domestic campaign.

He has 16 points from two assists and four bonus – a decent return for his 8.1 price tag, particularly when compared to Kevin De Bruyne’s (9.9) eight-point haul to date.

While the Belgian continues to be the most sold player of the Gameweek, with 185,000 parting company, 68,0000+ new managers have made Silva City’s most popular new acquisition.

He now sits in 9.5% of squads (De Bruyne is in 18.8%), but faces a decidedly mixed bag of short-term fixtures which involves Liverpool at home and Chelsea away sandwiching a trip to Watford and a visit from Crystal Palace.

Competition for places in City’s midfield is beyond intense, but both Silva and De Bruyne have played the full 270 minutes so far, and it would be a major surprise – even by the reliably unreliable Pep Guardiola’s standards – if they don’t feature prominently against Liverpool.

Who plays up front, however, is anyone’s guess.

Gabriel Jesus has started all three domestic matches to date, although he was hauled off against Everton as Guardiola was forced to re-group following the dismissal of Kyle Walker.

Sergio Aguero was dropped to the bench for the Gameweek 3 trip to Bournemouth as Guardiola abandoned his two-striker policy for a Jesus-only front line.

The Argentinian travelled thousands of miles to spend a further 180 minutes on his backside over the international break, whereas Jesus followed up a full match against Ecuador with a 30-minute run-out in Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Colombia.

Given that their Etihad encounter underway on Saturday lunchtime, Man City and Liverpool have chartered a private jet to get their Samba stars back with plenty of time to spare.

Elsewhere…

Europe
Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata’s excellent international break continued in Lichtenstein as he scored twice and provided an assist in Spain’s 8-0 demolition job. Having also found the net against Italy at the weekend, he’s been subject to over 224,000 transfers-in this Gameweek – second only to Firmino ahead of a trip to Leicester.

West Brom forward Hal Robson-Kanu and Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey were on the score sheet for Wales as they left it late to beat Moldova 2-0. Burnley striker Sam Vokes set up Ramsey’s clincher.

Ramsey came into the international break with his fitness in doubt. He has finished it with two starts and a goal – encouraging signs as Arsenal embark on a decent run of fixtures (BOU, che, WBA, BRI, wat) in which the home matches in particular offer the chance for the 3%-owned midfielder to build on his opening day strike against Leicester City.

Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson managed the full 180 minutes for Iceland over the break, and he scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over Ukraine last night.

Back-to-back clashes with Spurs and Man United have ensured that the playmaker’s ownership remains at just 5% in FPL but with the fixtures set to turn in Gameweek 6, heavy investment is expected as Sigurdsson looks to replicate last season’s career-high 181 points.

And Swansea’s Tammy Abraham produced a goal and assist for the England Under 21s in a 3-0 win over Latvia.

After opening his account for the season in the Gameweek 3 win over Palace, Abraham – at 5.5 – now boasts an excellent upcoming schedule, with home encounters against Newcastle, Watford, Huddersfield and Leicester in the six Gameweeks.

Leicester’s Demarai Gray and Huddersfield’s Kasey Palmer also found the net, with Everton midfielder Tom Davies supplying the assist for Palmer’s effort.

South America
An Alexis Sanchez injury scare proved to be unfounded as he played the full 90 minutes in Bolivia as Chile lost 1-0, while Chelsea’s Willian opened the scoring for Brazil in Colombia.

Africa
Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba finds himself in the top eight for transfers-in this week on the back of a nine-point haul in Gameweek 3 and a very attractive 4.0 price tag.

So more than 126,000 new managers – out of 8.0% in total – would have been delighted to hear that he had opened the scoring for Congo DR against Tunisia last night.

Less pleasing was the fact that Mbemba then limped off with a knock just before the hour-mark that puts his participation for the trip to Swansea City on Sunday in doubt.

His Toon team-mate Christian Atsu recorded a second assist of the international break as Ghana romped to a 5-1 win over Congo.

Man United’s Eric Bailly and new Spurs signing Serge Aurier played the full 90 minutes as Ivory Coast lost at home to Gabon 2-1, with Southampton’s Mario Lemina scoring a long-range screamer for the visitors.

Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez deadline day whereabouts were a mystery, but he was found in time to turn out for Algeria in a 0-1 loss to Zambia last night.

Australasia
Huddersfield’s most popular FPL asset, the 11.5%-owned midfielder Aaron Mooy, returned from illness to play the full match for Australia, providing both assists in a 2-1 win over Thailand.

Brighton keeper Mat Ryan also started.