International Scout Notes – Friday

Harry Kane celebrates the demise of August with a brace for England, while Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson delivers a not-so subtle reminder of his attacking credentials to club boss Jurgen Klopp with a fine strike for Scotland.

A number of other Premier League players impress, most notably Christian Eriksen with a goal and two assists for Denmark and new Burnley forward Chris Wood with a hat-trick for New Zealand.

Here are the notes from Friday’s global schedule.

Some home nation comforts for Harry

There was a sense of inevitability about Harry Kane’s goals for England in a 4-0 win in Malta.

The opponents, however well-organised and stubborn, were decidedly limited, the Spurs man’s early-season statistics positively screamed ‘he’s due a goal’ and, of course, it wasn’t August anymore.

Assuming he comes through Monday’s home match with Slovakia unscathed, we must now wonder whether his international form been enough to convince his 1.39 million owners to hold.

Interestingly, Kane’s Net Transfers edged into positive numbers following his goals, although that was a brief spike and he has since dipped into deficit once again – just.

Over 111,000 have shifted Kane out of their squads ahead of Gameweek 4 to this point. He has suffered total Net Transfer loss of over 313,000 since Gameweek 1, without dropping in price from 12.5.

Everton at Goodison Park will be a stern test for Spurs and Kane, although there is room for optimism.

Ronald Koeman’s defence have allowed 46 shots on goal and 14 on target – only five teams have conceded more. However, that ranking is perhaps skewed by that fact that the Toffees have faced trips to both Manchester City and Chelsea in Gameweeks 2 and 3.

They shipped nine shots to Stoke City at home in Gameweek 1, with the defence allowing just a single effort on target. Indeed, Everton were one of just five sides who did not concede a big chance over the opening weekend.

But Spurs and Kane were impressive in their only away trip so far, again in Gameweek 1.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side fired 18 shots at Newcastle United, with ten from inside the penalty area and three big chances created.

A blank on Merseyside would spark another steep decline in Kane’s ownership but, even in that scenario, there is a strong case to sit tight.

Kane will face a very favourable run of opponents (SWA, whu, hud, BOU) once that Goodison Park fixture is out of the way.

One match against a bus-parking Malta does not constitute a renaissance, but Kane’s Friday night return should at least kill off any theory that the striker is low on confidence.

A tale of two left-backs

Liverpool full-back Andrew Robertson has started his career on Merseyside in some style.

The Scottish international has played just one league match in three for the Reds. However, he produced nine points from a clean sheet and maximum bonus earned on the back of a superb attacking display at home to Crystal Palace in Gameweek 2.

Robertson created two big chances, fired in two attempts and put over 10 crosses in a sparkling Reds debut against the Eagles.

His progress was derailed by an absence for the Gameweek 3 meeting with Arsenal. He missed the 4-0 victory due to the birth of his child and with Alberto Moreno impressing against the Gunners, a Robertson recall at Manchester City in Gameweek 4 is far from guaranteed.

But he has strengthened his case with Friday’s performance. Robertston scored with a fine long-range effort as Scotland chalked up an impressive 3-0 win away in Lithuania last night.

His 4.9 price puts him in the mid-range for Liverpool defenders, but if Klopp were to field him more regularly, his 2.2% ownership will surely soar.

Another left-back, Southampton and England’s Ryan Bertrand (5.5), was also among the Friday night goals.

His price tag marks him out as the most expensive Saints defender, but you get much for the money – most importantly, security of starts.

New Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has bolstered his defensive options with the summer signing of Wesley Hoedt. And with Virgil van Dijk remaining at St Mary’s, owners of Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida face uncertain times.

There is a chance that Pellegrino could be the latest to consider a switch to a three at the back. Either way, Bertrand’s status as a Southampton starter – whether at full-back or wing-back – looks assured.

His team-mate on the opposite flank – Cedric (5.0) – is cheaper, though Bertrand’s role on set-pieces has so far helped him outperform the Portuguese in the Bonus Points System (63 vs 58).

Bertrand also has goals in his locker. He’s hit five over the last three seasons, while Cedric is yet to open his Saints account.

It still looks wise to cover the Saints defence. Pellegrino’s rearguard have earned two clean sheets so far, and only a Gameweek 6 visit from Man United provides a major test all the way through to Gameweek 12.

Elsewhere…

Danny Welbeck was England’s other scorer in Malta, with assists coming from Dele Alli, Jordan Henderson and second-half substitute Marcus Rashford.

Burnley’s new striker Chris Wood scored on his Clarets debut against Spurs, and he underlined his form with a hat-trick for New Zealand in a 6-1 thrashing of the Solomon Islands.

Crystal Palace are yet to score in the league, but their midfielder James McArthur was among the goals for Scotland, while Southampton’s Steven Davis notched a goal and an assist as Northern Ireland laboured to a 3-0 win in San Marino.

Spurs’ Christian Eriksen maintained an encouraging start to the season – 22 points from three assists and five bonus – with a goal and two assists as Denmark brushed aside Poland 4-0.

Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his positive start to the season with a strike for England U21’s away in Holland. Team-mate Ademola Lookman provided the assist.

Norway and Bournemouth striker Josh King opened his account for the season with a penalty in his country’s 2-0 win over Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Nigerian internationals Victor Moses and Kelechi Iheanacho were both on the scoresheet in a 4-0 win over Cameroon. Chelsea wing-back Moses also provided an assist. Stoke City have concerns over Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting who was forced off after just 14 minutes of his appearance from the bench for Cameroon in that match.

Elsewhere, Newcastle winger Christian Atsu followed up his assist in the 3-0 win over West Ham with another for Ghana in a 1-1 draw with Congo. His team-mate Mikel Merino also impressed, scoring a superb solo effort in Spain U21’s 3-0 win over Italy.