The final international break of 2021/22 gets underway in earnest on Thursday, with over 200 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players in action for their countries over the next week.
Most nations are only playing twice over this window, although one or two have a triple-header of games to squeeze in.
It should also be less of an eventful fortnight than we’ve become accustomed to in these Covid-ridden times, with quarantining not the issue it once was for returning players and no World Cup qualifiers in South America taking place ridiculously close to the start of the next Gameweek – something that led to no-shows for some key FPL assets in October.
Most of the final games take place either late on Tuesday or in the early hours of Wednesday morning, although those involved in North America are back later than that.
LATE RETURNEES
CONCACAF World Cup qualifying ends with a triple-header of matches for the likes of Mexico, the USA and Jamaica, so Raul Jimenez (£7.7m), Christian Pulisic (£7.9m), Leon Bailey (£6.3m), Zach Steffen (£4.4m) and, if he’s called up off the reserve list, Josh Sargent (£5.4m) could all be in action on the Thursday morning before Gameweek 31.
Jimenez is suspended on the domestic front and Bailey and Steffen are back-ups anyway but Pulisic and Sargent would obviously be big doubts to start in their respective sides’ 3pm fixtures on Saturday 2 April, with only around 60 hours of recovery and travelling time.
Of slightly less concern, but still worthy of note, are the players in action in South America.
Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay finish playing at around 2.30am on the Wednesday morning before Gameweek 31, with the Premier League players involved also having a long-haul flight back to the UK to endure afterwards – although it’s probably safe to assume that they won’t be travelling in Easyjet ecomony class.
There are 22 such players that we’ve listed below, the most notable of which from an FPL perspective include Gabriel Martinelli (£5.3m), Philippe Coutinho (£7.5m), Thiago Silva (£5.7m), Richarlison (£7.5m), Alisson (£6.0m), Luiz Diaz (£8.1m) and Sergio Romero (£4.8m).
Liverpool face Watford in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday, so while fatigue won’t be an issue for a goalkeeper like Alisson, it might well be for Diaz and Fabinho (£5.4m) further forward.
Thiago Silva, meanwhile, wasn’t considered for selection in Chelsea’s weekend fixtures immediately after the October and January breaks but started for the Blues straight after the November international fortnight, having been benched in Brazil’s final match of that window.
We’ve yet to see how Steven Gerrard deals with a Wednesday-Saturday international turnaround for Coutinho, however.
Everton, Spurs and Arsenal are in action on the Sunday or Monday of Gameweek 31, to give Richarlison, Romero and Martinelli a bit more recovery time.
NOTABLE OMISSIONS
Here are a cherry-picked selection of some key FPL assets and notable names who will be having a welcome breather over the coming two weeks, having either retired from international football, been overlooked for selection or picked up a ban for their country.
For example, we’ve listed Southampton’s Romain Perraud (£4.8m) here – not because he’s a popular pick himself but because he’s part of a three-way tussle with Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.8m) and the more widely owned Tino Livramento (£4.4m) for two full-back slots and the only one of the trio getting a fortnight off.
Kevin De Bruyne (£11.7m) leaps off the page, meanwhile, as Roberto Martinez looks to youth and inexperience in Belgium’s latest squad.
For a list of players who have withdrawn from their national team’s squads because of illness, injury or personal reasons, see the bottom of this piece.
- Alexandre Lacazette (£8.4m) – Arsenal
- Emiliano Martinez (£5.5m) – Aston Villa
- Danny Ings (£7.7m) – Aston Villa
- Ivan Toney (£6.7m) – Brentford
- James Tarkowski (£4.9m) – Burnley
- Trevoh Chalobah (£4.7m) – Chelsea
- Hakim Ziyech (£7.3m) – Chelsea
- Romelu Lukaku (£11.4m) – Chelsea
- Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.2m) – Crystal Palace
- Demarai Gray (£5.5m) – Everton
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m) – Everton
- Rodrigo (£6.2m) – Leeds
- Patrick Bamford (£7.7m) – Leeds
- James Maddison (£6.8m) – Leicester
- Harvey Barnes (£6.6m) – Leicester
- Joel Matip (£4.9m) – Liverpool
- Roberto Firmino (£8.7m) – Liverpool
- Kyle Walker (£5.4m) – Man City
- Kevin De Bruyne (£11.7m) – Man City
- Gabriel Jesus (£8.4m) – Man City
- David de Gea (£5.1m) – Man Utd
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.1m) – Man Utd
- Marcus Rashford (£9.4m) – Man Utd
- Ryan Fraser (£5.3m) – Newcastle
- Joe Willock (£5.7m) – Newcastle
- Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.8m) – Newcastle
- Romain Perraud (£4.8m) – Southampton
- Adam Armstrong (£5.7m) – Southampton
- Emerson Royal (£4.6m) – Spurs
- Sergio Reguilon (£5.2m) – Spurs
- Cucho Hernandez (£5.0m) – Watford
- Said Benrahma (£5.9m) – West Ham
- Michail Antonio (£7.5m) – West Ham
- Max Kilman (£4.6m) – Wolves
- Jonny (£4.5m) – Wolves
- Daniel Podence (£5.5m) – Wolves
WHEN FPL PLAYERS ARE IN ACTION: A CLUB-BY-CLUB GUIDE
ARSENAL
- Mohamed Elneny – Egypt – Mar 25 + 29
- Gabriel Martinelli – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Martin Odegaard – Norway – Mar 25 + 29
- Thomas Partey – Ghana – Mar 25 + 29
- Nicolas Pepe – Ivory Coast – Mar 25 + 29
- Albert Sambi Lokonga – Belgium – Mar 26 + 29
- Emile Smith Rowe – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Cedric Soares – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Kieran Tierney – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Ben White – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Granit Xhaka – Switzerland – Mar 26 + 29
ASTON VILLA
- Leon Bailey – Jamaica – Mar 24 + 27 + 31
- Matty Cash – Poland – Mar 24 + 29
- Carney Chukwuemeka – England under-19s – Mar 23 + 26 + 29
- Philippe Coutinho – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Lucas Digne – France – Mar 25 + 29
- Tim Iroegbunam – England under-19s – Mar 23 + 26 + 29
- John McGinn – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Tyrone Mings – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Robin Olsen – Sweden – Mar 24 + 29
- Jacob Ramsey – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Viljami Sinisalo – Finland under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Bertrand Traore – Burkina Faso – Mar 24 + 29
- Ollie Watkins – England – Mar 26 + 29
BRENTFORD
- Kristoffer Ajer – Norway – Mar 25 + 29
- Matt Cox – England under-19s – Mar 23 + 26 + 29
- Christian Eriksen – Denmark – Mar 26 + 29
- Mathias Jensen – Denmark – Mar 26 + 29
- Christian Nørgaard – Denmark – Mar 26 + 29
- Frank Onyeka – Nigeria – Mar 25 + 29
- David Raya – Spain – Mar 26 + 29
- Finley Stevens – Wales under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Yoane Wissa – DR Congo – Mar 25 + 29
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
- Yves Bissouma – Mali – Mar 25 + 29
- Moises Caicedo – Ecuador – Mar 24 + 30
- Shane Duffy – Republic of Ireland – Mar 26 + 29
- Evan Ferguson – Republic of Ireland under-21s – Mar 29
- Marc Leonard – Scotland under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Alexis Mac Allister – Argentina – Mar 25 + 30
- Jakub Moder – Poland – Mar 24 + 29
- Enock Mwepu – Zambia – Mar 29
- Robert Sanchez – Spain – Mar 26 + 29
- Jeremy Sarmiento – Ecuador – Mar 24 + 30
- Leandro Trossard – Belgium – Mar 26 + 29
- Ed Turns – Wales under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
BURNLEY
- Nathan Collins – Republic of Ireland – Mar 26 + 29
- Maxwel Cornet – Ivory Coast – Mar 25 + 29
- Wayne Hennessey – Wales – Mar 24 + 29
- Nick Pope – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Conor Roberts – Wales – Mar 24 + 29
- Wout Weghorst – Netherlands – Mar 26 + 29
CHELSEA
- Marcos Alonso – Spain – Mar 26 + 29
- Cesar Azpilicueta – Spain – Mar 26 + 29
- Lewis Hall – England under-18s – Mar 25 + 28
- Kai Havertz – Germany – Mar 26 + 29
- Jorginho – Italy – Mar 24 + 29
- Mateo Kovacic – Croatia – Mar 26 + 29
- Edouard Mendy – Senegal – Mar 25 + 29
- Mason Mount – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Christian Pulisic – USA – Mar 25 + 28 + 31
- Antonio Rüdiger – Germany – Mar 26 + 29
- Thiago Silva – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Timo Werner – Germany – Mar 26 + 29
CRYSTAL PALACE
- Tayo Adaramola – Republic of Ireland under-21s – Mar 23 + 26 + 29
- Joachim Andersen – Denmark – Mar 26 + 29
- Jordan Ayew – Ghana – Mar 25 + 29
- Scott Banks – Scotland under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Christian Benteke – Belgium – Mar 26 + 29
- Conor Gallagher – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Marc Guehi – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Cheikhou Kouyate – Senegal – Mar 25 + 29
- Tyrick Mitchell – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Michael Olise – France under-21s – Mar 24 + 28
- Jesurun Rak-Sakyi – England under-20s – Mar 25 + 29
- Wilfried Zaha – Ivory Coast – Mar 25 + 29
EVERTON
- Seamus Coleman – Republic of Ireland – Mar 26 + 29
- Abdoulaye Doucoure – Mali – Mar 25 + 29
- Anthony Gordon – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Nathan Patterson – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Jordan Pickford – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Richarlison – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Salomon Rondon – Venezuela – Mar 25 + 30
LEEDS UNITED
- Charlie Cresswell – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Stuart Dallas – Northern Ireland – Mar 25 + 29
- Sam Greenwood – England under-20s – Mar 25 + 29
- Dan James – Wales – Mar 24 + 29
- Kris Klaesson – Norway under-21s – Mar 29
- Illan Meslier – France under-21s – Mar 24 + 28
- Crysencio Summerville – Netherlands under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
LEICESTER CITY
- Daniel Amartey – Ghana – Mar 25 + 29
- Patson Daka – Zambia – Mar 29
- Jonny Evans – Northern Ireland – Mar 25 + 29
- Kelechi Iheanacho – Nigeria – Mar 25 + 29
- Ademola Lookman – Nigeria – Mar 25 + 29
- Nampalys Mendy – Senegal – Mar 25 + 29
- Ben Nelson – England under-18s – Mar 25 + 28
- Kasper Schmeichel – Denmark – Mar 26 + 29
- Caglar Soyuncu – Turkey – Mar 24 + 29
- Luke Thomas – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Youri Tielemans – Belgium – Mar 26 + 29
- Jannik Vestergaard – Denmark – Mar 26 + 29
LIVERPOOL
- Alisson – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Luis Diaz – Colombia – Mar 24 + 30
- Harvey Elliott – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Fabinho – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Jordan Henderson – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Diogo Jota – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Curtis Jones – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Caoimhin Kelleher – Republic of Ireland – Mar 26 + 29
- Sadio Mane – Senegal – Mar 25 + 29
- Takumi Minamino – Japan – Mar 24 + 29
- Divock Origi – Belgium – Mar 26 + 29
- Andrew Robertson – Scotland – Mar 24* + 29
- Mohamed Salah – Egypt – Mar 25 + 29
- Kostas Tsimikas – Greece – Mar 25 + 28
- Virgil van Dijk – Netherlands – Mar 26 + 29
*ruled out of the first game with Covid-19
MANCHESTER CITY
- Nathan Ake – Netherlands – Mar 26 + 29
- João Cancelo – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Phil Foden – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Jack Grealish – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Ilkay Gundogan – Germany – Mar 26 + 29
- Aymeric Laporte – Spain – Mar 26 + 29
- Riyad Mahrez – Algeria – Mar 25 + 29
- Rodri – Spain – Mar 26 + 29
- Bernardo Silva – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Zach Steffen – USA – Mar 25 + 28 + 31
- Raheem Sterling – England – Mar 26 + 29
- John Stones – England – Mar 26 + 29
MANCHESTER UNITED
- Eric Bailly – Ivory Coast – Mar 25 + 29
- Edinson Cavani – Uruguay – Mar 24 + 30
- Diogo Dalot – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Anthony Elanga – Sweden – Mar 24 + 29
- Bruno Fernandes – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Fred – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Victor Lindelöf – Sweden – Mar 24 + 29
- Harry Maguire – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Scott McTominay – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Hannibal Mejbri – Tunisia – Mar 25 + 29
- Paul Pogba – France – Mar 25 + 29
- Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Luke Shaw – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Alex Telles – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Raphael Varane – France – Mar 25 + 29
NEWCASTLE UNITED
- Miguel Almiron – Paraguay – Mar 24 + 30
- Lucas De Bolle – Scotland under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Martin Dubravka – Slovakia – Mar 25 + 29
- Bruno Guimaraes – Brazil – Mar 24 + 30
- Emil Krafth – Sweden – Mar 24 + 29
- Chris Wood – New Zealand – Mar 21 + 24
NORWICH CITY
- Billy Gilmour – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Grant Hanley – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Ozan Kabak – Turkey – Mar 24 + 29
- Tim Krul – Netherlands – Mar 26 + 29
- Kenny McLean – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Mathias Normann – Norway – Mar 25 + 29
- Przemyslaw Placheta – Poland – Mar 24 + 29
- Teemu Pukki – Finland – Mar 26 + 29
- Milot Rashica – Kosovo – Mar 24 + 29
- Josh Sargent – USA – Mar 25 + 28 + 31*
- Christos Tzolis – Greece under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
*on the reserve list
SOUTHAMPTON
- Che Adams – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Stuart Armstrong – Scotland – Mar 24 + 29
- Jan Bednarek – Poland – Mar 24 + 29
- Armando Broja – Albania – Mar 26 + 29
- Moussa Djenepo – Mali – Mar 25 + 29
- Moi Elyounoussi – Norway – Mar 25 + 29
- Fraser Forster – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Tino Livramento – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Will Smallbone – Republic of Ireland under-21s – Mar 29
- Kyle Walker-Peters – England – Mar 26 + 29
- James Ward-Prowse – England – Mar 26 + 29
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
- Rodrigo Bentancur – Uruguay – Mar 24 + 30
- Steven Bergwijn – Netherlands – Mar 26 + 29
- Ben Davies – Wales – Mar 24 + 29
- Alfie Devine – England under-19s – Mar 23 + 26 + 29
- Matt Doherty – Republic of Ireland – Mar 26 + 29
- Pierluigi Gollini – Italy – Mar 24 + 29
- Son Heung-min – South Korea – Mar 24 + 29
- Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – Denmark – Mar 26 + 29
- Harry Kane – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Dejan Kulusevski – Sweden – Mar 24 + 29
- Hugo Lloris – France – Mar 25 + 29
- Giovani Lo Celso – Argentina – Mar 25 + 30
- Joe Rodon – Wales – Mar 24 + 29
- Sergio Romero – Argentina – Mar 25 + 30
- Davinson Sanchez – Colombia – Mar 24 + 30
- Dane Scarlett – England under-19s – Mar 23 + 26 + 29
WATFORD
- Daniel Bachmann – Austria – Mar 24
- Craig Cathcart – Northern Ireland – Mar 25 + 29
- Emmanuel Dennis – Nigeria – Mar 25 + 29
- Peter Etebo – Nigeria – Mar 25 + 29
- Hassane Kamara – Ivory Coast – Mar 25 + 29
- Joshua King – Norway – Mar 25 + 29
- Imran Louza – Morocco – Mar 25 + 29
- Adam Masina – Morocco – Mar 25 + 29
- Ismaila Sarr – Senegal – Mar 25 + 29
- William Troost-Ekong – Nigeria – Mar 25 + 29
WEST HAM UNITED
- Aji Alese – England under-20s – Mar 25 + 29
- Alphonse Areola – France – Mar 25 + 29
- Ben Johnson – England under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
- Manuel Lanzini – Argentina – Mar 25 + 30
- Arthur Masuaku – DR Congo – Mar 25 + 29
- Sonny Perkins – England under-18s – Mar 25 + 28
- Declan Rice – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Tomáš Souček – Czech Republic – Mar 24 + 29
- Nikola Vlasic – Croatia – Mar 26 + 29
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
- Willy Boly – Ivory Coast – Mar 25 + 29
- Conor Coady – England – Mar 26 + 29
- Leander Dendoncker – Belgium – Mar 26 + 29
- Hwang Hee-chan – South Korea – Mar 24 + 29
- Raul Jimenez – Mexico – Mar 25 + 28 + 31
- João Moutinho – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Jose Sa – Portugal – Mar 24 + 29
- Romain Saiss – Morocco – Mar 25 + 29
- Fabio Silva – Portugal under-21s – Mar 25 + 29
WITHDRAWN DUE TO INJURY/ILLNESS
- Aaron Ramsdale – Arsenal/England – injury
- Gabriel Magalhaes – Arsenal/Brazil – personal reasons
- Bukayo Saka – Arsenal/England – illness
- Saman Ghoddos – Brentford/Iran – illness
- Tariq Lamptey – Brighton/England under-21s – illness
- Andreas Christensen – Chelsea/Denmark – injury
- Reece James – Chelsea/England – injury
- N’Golo Kante – Chelsea/France – personal reasons
- Diego Llorente – Leeds/Spain – injury
- Raphinha – Leeds/Brazil – illness
- Lewis Bate – Leeds/England under-20s – injury
- Robin Koch – Leeds/Germany – illness
- Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool/England – injury
- Naby Keita – Liverpool/Guinea – injury
- Ederson – Man City/Brazil – illness
- Fabian Schar – Newcastle/Switzerland – injury
- Max Aarons – Norwich/England under-21s – injury
- Brandon Williams – Norwich/England under-21s – injury
- Rayan Ait-Nouri – Wolves/France under-21s – personal reasons
2 years, 9 months agoTransmission no. 105: the humans have suspicions that we exist.