The minutes played by FPL assets in first round of international matches

The first round of international matches went off largely without a hitch for Fantasy Premier League assets.

There were very few injuries to report after the first day of action, although there is still plenty of football to be played between now and Gameweek 5.

The biggest news as things stand is a groin injury to Brighton midfielder Leandro Trossard (£6.0m), who has now pulled out of the Belgium squad and could face several weeks out.

We’ve rounded up all the latest matches in this Scout Notes article, documenting how many minutes each FPL asset played.

Euro 2020 qualifying

Group J

Finland 1-0 Greece

• Teemu Pukki – 85 minutes

• Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 90 minutes

Norwich striker Teemu Pukki (£7.0m) continued his impressive start to the season as he helped Finland to an important Euro 2020 qualifying win over Greece.

He netted the only goal of the game from the penalty spot, his sixth goal in all competitions of the 2019/20 campaign.

While his threat for Norwich has already been well-established this season, a question still hangs over the penalty-taker at Carrow Road.

Those who watched Pukki calmly dispatch his against Greece may believe that he has a chance at becoming the designated taker moving forward, although only time will tell.

Also involved in this match was Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos (£5.0m) who played 90 minutes for Greece.

Armenia 1-3 Italy

• Emerson Palmieri – 90 minutes
• Jorginho – 90 minutes

After showing promise in the first four Gameweeks, Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri (£5.5m) got his first attacking return of the campaign on international duty with Italy.

During a 3-1 Euro 2020 qualifier win over Armenia, the left-back provided the assist for Andrea Belotti’s equaliser in the 28th minute.

That will be of interest to those interested in Emerson, given his impressive underlying statistics so far this season.

He played 90 minutes against Armenia, as did colleague Jorginho (£5.0m). Meanwhile, Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, currently on loan at AS Roma until the end of the season, played for the opposition.

Bosnia 5-0 Liechtenstein

• Sead Kolašinac – 90 minutes
• Muhamed Bešić – 0 minutes

There was minimal FPL involvement in Bosnia’s big 5-0 win over Liechtenstein.

Arsenal defender Sead Kolašinac (£5.4m) played 90 minutes at left-back while Sheffield United midfielder Muhamed Bešić (£4.5m), still yet to make a Premier League appearance in 2019/20, was an unused substitute.

The fact that he is not getting game-time for his nation, as well as the Blades, will be a small piece of welcome news to any John Lundstram (£4.2m) worrying about Bešić’s chances of breaking into the first-team at Bramall Lane.

Group D

Republic of Ireland 1-1 Switzerland

• Enda Stevens – 90 minutes
• Shane Duffy – 90 minutes
• Seamus Coleman – 90 minutes
• Jeff Hendrick – 90 minutes
• David McGoldrick – 90 minutes
• Conor Hourihane – 82 minutes
• Callum Robinson – 58 minutes
• John Egan – 0 minutes
• Kevin Long – 0 minutes
• Mark Travers – 0 minutes

• Fabian Schär – 90 minutes
• Granit Xhaka – 90 minutes
• Albian Ajeti – 4 minutes

Fabian Schär (£5.0m) demonstrated his goal threat once again on Thursday night, this time on international duty with Switzerland.

His latest strike was one any attacking midfielder would have been proud of as he came out of defence, not only to start the move but finish it too.

Schär continued his run into the Republic of Ireland penalty area after one-two, slotting past Darren Randolph with ease.

Newcastle fans will be hoping he can continue to bring that sort of attacking play to the Premier League upon his return.

Meanwhile, there was a large contingent of FPL assets in action for the Republic of Ireland, including their goal-scorer David McGoldrick (£5.5m).

Mick McCarthy’s side did not have much chance to get on the front-foot, with Switzerland largely dominating possession, but McGoldrick asked some good questions at the right time.

He showed good pace on the counter in the first-half, his cross nearly setting up club-mate Callum Robinson (£5.3m) and it was his header in the last five minutes that levelled the game.

Also involved for the Republic of Ireland were Enda Stevens (£5.0m), Shane Duffy (£5.0m), Seamus Coleman (£5.5m) and Jeff Hendrick (£5.4m), who all got 90 minutes while Aston Villa’s Conor Hourihane (£5.0m) played for 82.

Meanwhile, Mark Travers (£4.4m), John Egan (£4.5m) and Kevin Long (£4.5m) were unused substitutes.

Gibraltar 0-6 Denmark

• Kasper Schmeichel – 90 minutes
• Andreas Christensen – 90 minutes
• Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 90 minutes
• Christian Eriksen – 90 minutes
• Philip Billing – 0 minutes

Following a summer of heavy transfer speculation and time on the Spurs bench, Christian Eriksen (£8.8m) was the star of Denmark’s big win over Gibraltar on Thursday night.

He scored twice and provided an assist in a 6-0 victory, one of his goals coming from the penalty spot.

However, it would be hard to read too much into his performance given the very low quality of opposition.

Also involved for Denmark were goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m), defender Andreas Christensen (£5.0m) and Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (£4.9m), who all got 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth’s Philip Billing (£5.0m) was an unused substitute.

Group F

Romania 1-2 Spain

• Kepa Arrizabalaga – 90 minutes
• Dani Ceballos – 77 minutes
• David de Gea – 0 minutes
• Rodri – 0 minutes

Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5.5m) was the star of the show for Spain as they beat Romania 2-1 on Thursday night.

The Chelsea goalkeeper has recently ousted David de Gea (£5.6m) as the number one for his country, consigning the Manchester United man to life as an unused substitute.

He produced an incredible stop towards the end of this Euro 2020 qualifier to deny Reading striker George Puscas.

Also involved for Spain was Dani Ceballos (£5.7m), whose passing ability led to Paco Alcácer’s 47th-minute goal, although he did not get an assist for himself.

Romania’s goal was scored by former Brighton forward Florin Andone.

Faroe Islands 0-4 Sweden

• Victor Lindelöf – 90 minutes
• Emil Krafth – 45 minutes

Victor Lindelöf (£5.5m) played 90 minutes and scored as Sweden beat the Faroe Island 4-0 on Thursday night.

Also involved against lowly opposition was Newcastle defender Emil Krafth (£4.5m) who came on at half-time.

Norway 2-0 Malta

• Joshua King – 58 minutes

Bournemouth’s Joshua King (£6.4m) reminded Fantasy managers of his credentials for his club’s penalties on Thursday night.

The forward netted from the spot as Norway beat Malta 2-0 in a Euro 2020 qualifying match.

Those interested in King for the upcoming Gameweeks will probably be pleased to know he was substituted in the 58th minute ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Georgia.

International friendlies

Chile 0-0 Argentina

• Claudio Bravo – 90 minutes

• Nicolas Otamendi – 90 minutes
• Giovani Lo Celso – 53 minutes
• Roberto Pereyra – 0 minutes
• Manuel Lanzini – 0 minutes
• Marcos Rojo – 0 minutes

Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso (£7.4m) limped off during Argentina’s 0-0 draw with Chile in the early hours of Friday morning.

However, the player himself has described the problem as “not something to worry about” and, as things stand, there has been no statement or update either from Argentina or Spurs.

Manchester City pair Claudio Bravo (£4.9m) and Nicolas Otamendi (£5.4m) both played 90 minutes opposite each other while Roberto Pereyra (£5.9m), Manuel Lanzini (£6.5m) and Marcos Rojo (£4.9m) were all unused substitutes.

Japan 2-0 Paraguay

• Maya Yoshida – 90 minutes

• Fabian Balbuena – 90 minutes
• Miguel Almirón – 90 minutes

Maya Yoshida (£4.5m) played 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet for Japan against Paraguay this week.

Meanwhile, Fabian Balbuena (£4.4m) and Miguel Almirón (£5.9m) were both involved against the Saints man.

The latter was deployed in a number 10 role but is still waiting for his first attacking return this season.

South Korea 2-2 Georgia

• Son Heung-min – 62 minutes

Son Heung-min‘s (£9.5m) latest outing with South Korea was kept nice and short ahead of Gameweek 5.

He played 62 minutes in a 2-2 draw with Georgia, providing the assist for Hwang Uj-jo’s 48th-minute goal.

Northern Ireland 1-0 Luxembourg

• Bailey Peacock-Farrell – 67 minutes
• Michael McGovern – 23 minutes
• Jamal Lewis – 0 minutes

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill named a youthful side to face Luxembourg on Thursday night.

The only FPL assets to get any minutes were Burnley and Norwich’s reserve goalkeepers.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell (£4.5m) started the match and was replaced by Michael McGovern (£4.0m) in the 67th minute.

The latter’s club-mate Jamal Lewis (£4.5m) was an unused substitute while Jonny Evans (£5.0m) and Craig Cathcart (£4.4m) were both left out of the match-day squad.

UEFA U21 Championship qualifiers

Portugal Under-21s 4-0 Gibraltar Under-21s

• Rúben Vinagre – 90 minutes
• Domingos Quina – 45 minutes
• Pedro Neto – 45 minutes

There were three Premier League players in action for Portugal’s Under-21s on Thursday night.

Wolves defender Rúben Vinagre (£4.4m) played 90 minutes while club-mate Pedro Neto (£5.0m) was substituted at half-time.

Also replaced at the break was Watford midfielder Domingos Quina (£4.5m).

Under-20s Elite League

England Under-20s 0-0 Netherlands Under-20s

• Angel Gomes – 90 minutes
• Lewis Gibson – 0 minutes

Manchester midfielder Angel Gomes (£4.9m) played 90 minutes in a 0-0 draw with Netherlands Under-20s on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Everton defender Lewis Gibson (£4.4m) was an unused substitute.