Woe for Argentina, yet another injury scare for Kompany and a literally forgettable appearance from Janssen marks the start of November’s international action. Here’s the round-up of Wednesday and Thursday’s matches.
Brazil 3 Argentina 0
Philippe Coutinho (8.7) continued his hot run of form with the opener in a humbling of bitter rivals Argentina.
The Liverpool midfielder cut in from the left and fired home a trademark long-range screamer as Brazil exorcised the ghosts of 2014 at Belo Horizonte – scene of their World Cup semi-final mauling by Germany.
Coutinho now has three goals and as many assists in his last four matches for club and country.
The hosts made short work of an Argentinian defence that included Man City pair Pablo Zabaleta (4.7) and Nicolas Otamendi (5.9), as well as Everton centre half Ramiro Funes Mori (4.7) and Man United reserve keeper Sergio Romero (4.8) – four players with just two league clean sheets between them this season.
After suffering an October international break during which he suffered an injury scare and missed a penalty, Sergio Aguero (13.1) failed to make the starting XI, but was introduced at half time to little effect.
City midfielder Fernandinho (5.4) played the full match for Brazil, whilst Roberto Firmino’s (8.7) 60,000+ new owners will be relieved after he was afforded an eight-minute sub appearance late in the match.
Chelsea’s Willian (7.2), meanwhile, was an unused sub.
The Brazilian contingent now look forward a Qualifier with Peru in the early hours of Wednesday morning before they travel back ahead of Gameweek 12.
Argentina face Colombia in their own qualifier on Tuesday night.
Holland 1 Belgium 1
The in-form Eden Hazard (10.1) captained Belgium but went goalless for the first time in six league and international matches in Wednesday’s friendly with Holland.
Coach Roberto Martinez had said pre-match that he might struggle to find a starting place for Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (10.7) in the light of the fine form of Dries Mertens. In the end they both played, with Belgium initially fielding no recognised striker.
De Bruyne’s team-mate, Vincent Kompany (5.9), was due to start. But in a season consistently blighted by injury, he complained of feeling discomfort during the warm-up and had to be replaced by Watford’s Christian Kabasele (4.8).
Martinez played down worries over Kompany post-match, but the Belgian’s ongoing woes further cement John Stones’ (5.0 and 26.8%-owned) status as the Man City defender of choice for Fantasy Premier League managers.
Two Tottenham players were involved and both had matches to forget – literally in the case of Dutch striker Vincent Janssen (7.7), who lost 20 minutes of memory following a clash with Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet (4.8) and is now a doubt for Gameweek 12’s home match with West Ham.
His club colleague Jan Vertonghen (5.7) played the full match but gave away the penalty that led to Holland’s goal.
The friendly involved a plethora of other Premier League players, including Maarten Stekelenburg (5.1), Virgil Van Dijk (5.4), Daley Blind (5.8) and Georginio Wijnaldum (7.5). Romelu Lukaku (9.8) and Memphis Depay (7.2) also came on in the second half.
Meanwhile, Hazard was seen to be limping from the pitch on the whistle having suffered an awkward fall and collision, although there has been no news on any repercussions from that incident.
Hazard and Belgium are due to face Estonia in a World Cup Qualifier on Sunday, with the Dutch facing Luxembourg on the same day.
In South America’s other World Cup qualifiers, Arsenal’s David Ospina (4.8) kept a clean sheet for Colombia in a 0-0 draw with Chile.
At the other end of the pitch, Manchester City’s Claudio Bravo suffered a hip injury via two collisions either side of half-time which saw him forced off on 64 minutes.
Alexis Sanchez (11.3) played no part for Chile after picking up a training camp hamstring injury.
As we reported in yesterday’s Say What article, Chile face Uruguay on Tuesday, with Arsene Wenger urging the Chilean FA not to make a ‘suicidal’ decision to play their star man anytime soon.
A bad week for Wenger was worsened by the news that Hector Bellerin (6.6) had picked up an ankle injury on Spain U21 duty. The Spaniard, along with Sanchez, is a doubt for the Gunners’ Gameweek 12 trip to Man United.
Middlesbrough duo Christhian Stuani (5.1) and Gaston Ramirez (5.3) were involved in Uruguay’s 2-1 win over Ecuador. The former played the full 90 minutes and the latter came on in the second half.
Elsewhere in Europe, Leicester’s Demarai Gray (4.8) scored and on-loan Middlesbrough defender Calum Chambers (4.4) provided the assist for the late winner as England’s U21 team beat their Italian counterparts 3-2. Southampton midfielder-turned-striker Nathan Redmond (6.0) played the full 90 minutes.
