Our international break coverage continues with this look back at the various friendlies contested over the last few days, with our focus predominantly on Fantasy assets.
We round up the minutes played, goals, assists and injury news concerning Fantasy Premier League players, with a summary of Thursday’s UEFA Nations League encounters to follow tomorrow.
England 3-0 USA
- Jordan Pickford (£4.9m) – 45 minutes
- Alex McCarthy (£4.5m) – 45 minutes
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.0m) – 90 minutes
- Michael Keane (£4.9m) – 90 minutes
- Lewis Dunk (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
- Ben Chilwell (£5.1m) – 58 minutes
- Eric Dier (£4.8m) – 32 minutes
- Harry Winks (£5.5m) – 70 minutes
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.2m) – 20 minutes
- Fabian Delph (£5.3m) – 90 minutes
- Dele Alli (£8.9m) – 58 minutes
- Jordan Henderson (£5.3m) – 32 minutes
- Callum Wilson (£6.8m) – 79 minutes
- Marcus Rashford (£6.7m) – 11 minutes
- Jesse Lingard (£6.7m) – 58 minutes
- Harry Kane (£12.4m) – 0 minutes
- Kyle Walker (£6.5m) – 0 minutes
- Raheem Sterling (£11.2m) – 0 minutes
- Ross Barkley (£6.0m) – 0 minutes
- John Stones (£5.3m) – 0 minutes
- DeAndre Yedlin (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
A youthful England side comfortably saw off the USA at Wembley on Thursday evening on what was Wayne Rooney’s farewell appearance for the national team.
Fantasy managers who own Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley and John Stones would have been pleased to see their assets remain as unused substitutes on an evening when Gareth Southgate handed three players their debuts and named England’s most inexperienced starting XI in 38 years.
One of those players to make their national team bow was Callum Wilson, who played as the spearhead of the England attack in Southgate’s 4-2-3-1.
The Bournemouth striker did well on his debut but the evening had threatened to be a frustrating one, with Wilson having been denied a penalty after a coming-together with Brad Guzan and missing a glorious opportunity presented to him by Jesse Lingard early in the match.
The in-form Cherries forward got the reward his battling performance deserved shortly before his withdrawal, tucking home a Fabian Delph cross on 77 minutes before subsequently making way for Marcus Rashford.
Delph had begun the match in central midfield but switched to left-back after Ben Chilwell‘s substitution on 58 minutes – a position we could see him in more frequently in the coming weeks given the news about Benjamin Mendy‘s knee injury/surgery in the past few days.
Lingard and Jadon Sancho dovetailed nicely behind Wilson in attack, with Dele Alli slightly deeper than the pair and often retreating to join Delph and the impressive Harry Winks in central midfield – as he often does for Spurs.
Alli indeed didn’t register a single penalty box touch or shot on goal in the match, with his headed effort against the bar early in the match rendered immaterial as the ball had already gone out of play.
Lingard meanwhile joined Wilson in having four attempts on goal from inside the box – no player had more – and scored England’s opener on 24 minutes, curling home an excellent strike from the edge of Guzan’s area after a pass from Alli.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was a strong man-of-the-match candidate and scored his first England goal shortly after Lingard’s strike, being teed up by Sancho and firing past Guzan with a low, angled drive from around ten yards out.
After his well-documented struggles of recent weeks, the Liverpool full-back turned in a fine attacking performance, providing a constant outlet down the right flank and delivering more crosses than any other player on show.
Only Wilson registered more penalty box touches than Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, who was also charged with taking two of England’s corners – a responsibility he has occasionally been afforded by Liverpool this season.
Alexander-Arnold slightly blotted his copybook when being dispossessed by the impressive Christian Pulisic on the byline when trying to shepherd the ball out of play, but overall this was a much-improved display from the teenage defender.
Michael Keane and debutant Lewis Dunk had a fairly quiet night at centre-half, though had to be bailed out by Jordan Pickford when Pulisic nipped between them minutes before Lingard’s opener.
Alex McCarthy got his first taste of international action when replacing the Everton goalkeeper at half-time, while Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson and Ruben Loftus-Cheek also clocked up minutes from the bench.
DeAndre Yedlin played the whole game at right-back for the visitors, meanwhile.
Germany 3-0 Russia
- Leroy Sane (£9.2m) – 78 minutes
- Antonio Rudiger (£6.0m) – 61 minutes
- Bernd Leno (£4.8m) – 0 minutes
Just as we could be seeing more of Fabian Delph in Benjamin Mendy’s injury-enforced absence at Manchester City over the coming weeks, the same might be true of Leroy Sane.
The City winger started all three of the Premier League matches that Mendy missed from Gameweeks 5 to 7 and his first-team chances will surely be boosted in the Frenchman’s absence, with Pep Guardiola having previously said that Sane’s early-season starts were affected by Mendy playing wide down that same left flank.
Sane starred on the left of a 3-4-3 in this win for Joachim Low’s side and opened the scoring after just seven minutes, registering his first international goal after being played in by Serge Gnabry around 12 yards out.
Sane came within inches of touching home a cross from the right shortly after and should have had a second goal when nodding straight at Andrey Lunev from a Kai Havertz cross on 23 minutes.
Antonio Rudiger played just over an hour for his national side, registering a clean sheet and an assist after flicking the ball onto Niklas Sule for Germany’s second goal.
Rudiger’s penalty box prominence is something that has been apparent for Chelsea this campaign – only three FPL defenders have had more attempts on goal in 2018/19.
Bernd Leno was an unused substitute for the Germans.
Republic of Ireland 0-0 Northern Ireland
- Shane Duffy (£4.7m) – 90 minutes
- Seamus Coleman (£5.2m) – 90 minutes
- Robbie Brady (£5.4m) – 90 minutes
- Jeff Hendrick (£5.3m) – 90 minutes
- Cyrus Christie (£4.2m) – 6 minutes
- Kevin Long (£4.2m) – 0 minutes
- Harry Arter (£4.9m) – 0 minutes
- Michael Obafemi (£5.0m) – 0 minutes
- Craig Cathcart (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
- Steven Davis (£4.7m) – 90 minutes
Shane Duffy demonstrated his attacking threat from set plays by coming as close as any Republic of Ireland player to breaking the deadlock at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday evening, though should have done better when nodding Robbie Brady‘s teasing free-kick into the ground and over the bar from close range on 21 minutes.
Duffy was pressed into more defensive action than perhaps expected as Ireland’s visitors had the bulk of the possession and chances, with the Brighton centre-back culpable for one of Northern Ireland’s two clear-cut opportunities when caught under the ball.
Duffy had lined up as one of the three stoppers at centre-back, with Seamus Coleman afforded the freedom to attack at wing-back – though the hosts’ forays forward were few and far between.
The Burnley pair of Brady and Jeff Hendrick both lined up in a three-man central midfield, up against Southampton’s forgotten man Steven Davis.
Craig Cathcart banked a clean sheet for Michael O’Neill’s side and had a chance to get on the scoresheet himself, but sidefooted wide from 12 yards.
Matt Doherty (£4.9m), of course, missed out with a facial injury, while Shane Long (£4.8m) withdrew from his country’s squad with an ankle knock.
Kevin Long, Harry Arter and youngster Michael Obafemi were all unused substitutes for the hosts, while Cyrus Christie came off the bench in the 84th minute for a brief cameo.
Ciaran Clark (£4.5m) and Greg Cunningham (£4.2m), called up to Martin O’Neill’s provisional squad, didn’t make the 28-man cut and have returned to their respective clubs.
Switzerland 0-1 Qatar
- Xherdan Shaqiri (£7.0m) – 45 minutes
- Fabian Schar (£4.6m) – 90 minutes
- Granit Xhaka (£5.3m) – 45 minutes
Switzerland’s Premier League-based trio were all involved in an embarrassing home defeat to the World Cup 2022 hosts, whose last encounter with European opposition was a 2-1 loss to Liechtenstein.
Xherdan Shaqiri came off the bench at half-time but couldn’t inspire his country to victory, though did come close to registering an assist when providing the chance that team-mate Christian Fassnacht struck against the crossbar on 53 minutes.
Shaqiri registered three other key passes upon his introduction, including one cross that Fassnacht headed narrowly wide. No player on show in Lugano recorded more crosses or chances created than the Liverpool midfielder.
Granit Xhaka played the first half of this friendly as part of a three-man central midfield and also came within inches of an assist when his 36th-minute corner was headed against the post by Michael Lang.
Newcastle United’s Fabian Schar played the whole match at centre-back as the Swiss were caught on the counter-attack on 85 minutes and conceded the only goal of the game to Qatar’s Akram Akif.
Poland 0-1 Czech Republic
- Jan Bednarek (£3.9m) – 90 minutes
- Lukasz Fabianski (£4.5m) – 0 minutes
Southampton’s Jan Bednarek, who has only 80 minutes of Premier League football to his name this season, played the full match in Gdansk as Poland slumped to a 1-0 defeat to the Czech Republic in an international friendly.
The Saints defender was caught in behind by Patrik Shick for the visitors’ winning goal and was unable to recover as Jakub Jankto tapped in from Shick’s saved effort.
Lukasz Fabianski was an unused substitute and may come back into contention for the UEFA Nations League encounter with Portugal on Tuesday, though Wojciech Szczesny was preferred to the West Ham goalkeeper in Poland’s last competitive fixture.
Peru 0-2 Ecuador
- Antonio Valencia (£6.4m) – 81 minutes
Out-of-favour Manchester United full-back Antonio Valencia scored for his country after returning from injury, following up his own blocked effort to give Ecuador an early second-half lead that they later doubled.
Valencia played further forward than we have been used to seeing him at United, almost on the right of a front three.
Luke Shaw will be suspended for the visit of Crystal Palace in Gameweek 13, possibly handing Valencia a reprieve at right-back with Ashley Young needed on the opposite flank.
Valencia spoke to the Ecuadorian media about his continued omission from Jose Mourinho’s line-up:
The relationship with Mourinho has always been a good one. Right now I haven’t been playing, but it’s more of a tactical decision. The player who has been in my place (Young) has been playing well. You have to respect the decision.
The only thing I can do is prepare and be ready for when he (Mourinho) needs me and be in the right condition to compete. I’m calm right now and I know I’ll get an opportunity to play again.
Japan 1-1 Venezuela
- Maya Yoshida (£4.2m) – 90 minutes
- Salomon Rondon (£5.7m) – 66 minutes
Salomon Rondon, who scored twice for Newcastle in Gameweek 12, wasn’t on the scoresheet on Friday morning as Venezuela held Japan to a 1-1 draw in Tokyo.
Rondon had three attempts on goal, one of which was an excellent opportunity from eight yards out that was blocked by a Japanese defender.
Southampton’s Maya Yoshida, who made only his second Premier League start of the season in Gameweek 12, captained his country and played the full 90 minutes.
Round-up
Neil Etheridge (£4.5m) kept a clean sheet as the Philippines beat Singapore 1-0 in their AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 Group B match on Tuesday.
The Cardiff City goalkeeper played the whole 90 minutes and will be in action again on Saturday against Timor Leste.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£6.7m) didn’t take any part as Iran beat Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 in a friendly on Thursday.
The Brighton winger is recovering from a hamstring injury and was reportedly omitted from Carlos Queiroz’s final 24-man squad.
Team-mate Beram Kayal (£4.4m) played the first 55 minutes of Israel’s 7-0 win over Guatemala, registering an assist for his side’s fourth goal.
Philip Billing (£4.5m) wasn’t involved for the Denmark under-21s on Wednesday night, meanwhile.
Steven Sessegnon (£4.0m) scored for the England under-19s in midweek in a 4-0 win over their Moldovan counterparts. Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4.2m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£4.3m) and Emile Smith-Rowe (£4.5m) also started the match.
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