Our international round-ups continue with a look back at Friday’s fixtures.
We document the minutes played, injuries picked up and goals scored by any Fantasy Premier League assets on show for their national teams.
Subscribers can view data on some of the matches listed below in our Members’ Area, with details available here.
The Czech Republic 2-1 England
- Jordan Pickford (£5.5m) – 90 minutes
- Michael Keane (£5.5m) – 90 minutes
- Harry Maguire (£5.4m) – 90 minutes
- Danny Rose (£5.5m) – 90 minutes
- Jordan Henderson (£5.4m) – 90 minutes
- Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) – 90 minutes
- Harry Kane (£10.9m) – 90 minutes
- Declan Rice (£4.9m) – 88 minutes
- Mason Mount (£6.8m) – 72 minutes
- Ross Barkley (£5.6m) – 18 minutes
- Marcus Rashford (£8.4m) – 17 minutes
- Tammy Abraham (£7.7m) – 2 minutes
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) – 0 minutes
- Nick Pope (£4.7m) – 0 minutes
- Dean Henderson (£4.5m) – 0 minutes
- Ben Chilwell (£5.4m) – 0 minutes
- Joe Gomez (£5.2m) – 0 minutes
- Tyrone Mings (£4.6m) – 0 minutes
- Fikayo Tomori (£4.7m) – 0 minutes
- Harry Winks (£5.4m) – 0 minutes
England slumped to a first qualifying defeat in a decade as a lively Czech Republic side exposed the Three Lions’ defensive shortcomings.
An early Harry Kane (£10.9m) penalty, awarded when Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) was tripped in the area, should have been the ideal platform for the visitors to kick on and secure the three points required to seal qualification for next year’s Euro finals.
Instead, it merely served to inspire the Czechs, who equalised just four minutes later and deservedly won the match late on.
In between, England were disjointed and careless with the ball and consistently vulnerable without it.
Manager Gareth Southgate was quick to shoulder the blame for the defeat, and his decision to hand a full debut to Mason Mount (£6.8m) in an advanced role certainly didn’t help matters.
The in-form Chelsea youngster struggled to impose himself on the game, and his brief to get forward left Jordan Henderson (£5.4m) and Declan Rice (£4.9m) undermanned and over-run in the middle of the park.
But England were deficient all over the pitch, with only Jordan Pickford (£5.5m), who made a number of fine saves, emerging with any real credit from a chastening encounter.
The goalkeeper’s club colleague, Michael Keane (£5.5m), looked well short of international class alongside Harry Maguire (£5.4m) at centre-half, while Danny Rose (£5.5m) had a torrid time at left-back, losing an aerial duel that ultimately led to the Czechs’ winner.
The one consolation for Rose’s 2.3% ownership in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) was the booking that means he’ll miss Monday’s match in Bulgaria, allowing him a decent rest before Spurs look to address their own inadequacies at home to Watford on Saturday.
England managed just seven attempts in Prague, four of which came from Kane. He did force home keeper Tomas Vaclik into a couple of saves, but his touch too frequently let him down, turning good chances into trickier ones.
As for Sterling, he started the game brightly and ended it fruitlessly trying to do far too much by himself. That seemed appropriate for a player who scored close to half of his 48 FPL points for the season in Gameweek 1.
Southgate will be looking for a big response from his players on Monday night.
Should that fail to materialise, FPL managers will be understandably worried that some of their key assets – Sterling (38.3%), Mount (34.2%) and Kane (19.1%) are all well-owned – might end up bringing their poor international form back home with them.
One of the few Fantasy bright spots on an otherwise murky night was that Tammy Abraham (£7.7m) was handed just two minutes to make his mark on Friday.
The Chelsea striker is now FPL’s second most popular player, with 41.6% ownership, and his Fantasy managers will be more than happy if he remains as under-used by England ahead of an attractive Gameweek 9 home fixture against Newcastle.
Similarly, the 30.2%-owned Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) spent the Czech game on the sidelines.
He was joined by fellow bench-warmers Nick Pope (£4.7m), Dean Henderson (£4.5m), Ben Chilwell (£5.4m), Joe Gomez (£5.2m), Tyrone Mings (£4.6m), Fikayo Tomori (£4.7m) and Harry Winks (£5.4m).
Callum Wilson (£7.9m) had an illness and was kept away from the rest of the squad to prevent it spreading, with Southgate hopeful he will be fit enough for consideration against Bulgaria.
James Maddison (£7.2m) was withdrawn from the England squad for similar reasons.
View player and team stats from The Czech Republic v England in our Members’ Area.
Iceland 0-1 France
- Lucas Digne (£6.0m) – 90 minutes
- Moussa Sissoko (£5.0m) – 90 minutes
- Olivier Giroud (£6.7m) – 78 minutes
- N’Golo Kante (£5.0m) – 0 minutes
- Kurt Zouma (£4.7m) – 0 minutes
- Djibril Sidibe (£5.3m) – 0 minutes
- Tanguy Ndombele (£6.0m) – 0 minutes
- Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.6m) – 90 minutes
- Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m) – 16 minutes
Olivier Giroud (£6.7m) converted a second-half penalty to keep France level with Turkey at the top of the Group H table.
The striker is currently third in the pecking order at Chelsea, with just one start and four FPL points to his name.
Club colleague and fellow countryman N’Golo Kante (£5.0m) was due to start with Giroud against Iceland, only for the midfielder to pick up a muscle injury in the warm-up.
French coach Didier Deschamps withdrew him as a precaution and, while downplaying the severity of the issue, would not be drawn on whether Kante would be available for Monday’s vital clash with Turkey.
Kante’s 5.2% FPL ownership will have to wait and see on their man, with Spurs midfielder Moussa Sissoko (£5.0m) taking his place in the side on Friday night.
He played the full 90 minutes, as did Everton’s Lucas Digne (£6.0m) at left-back.
Kurt Zouma (£4.7m), Djibril Sidibe (£5.3m) and Tanguy Ndombele (£6.0m) were unused substitutes for the French.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.6m) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m) both started the match for Iceland, with the former playing the full 90 minutes.
But the Burnley midfielder was forced off with injury after just 16 minutes, having only just returned to the Clarets’ starting XI after a four-Gameweek lay-off.
View player and team stats from Iceland v France in our Members’ Area.
Turkey 1-0 Albania
- Cenk Tosun (£5.7m) – 90 minutes
- Caglar Soyuncu (£4.7m) – 45 minutes
Turkey warmed up for Monday’s showdown with the French by narrowly beating Albania.
It took a 90th-minute winner from Everton striker Cenk Tosun (£5.7m) to secure the points.
Leicester City centre-half Caglar Soyuncu (£4.7m) came off the bench to play the second half.
Portugal 3-0 Luxembourg
- Rui Patricio (£5.1m) – 90 minutes
- Joao Moutinho (£5.4m) – 90 minutes
- Bernardo Silva (£7.9m) – 77 minutes
- Ruben Neves (£5.4m) – 1 minute
- Ricardo Pereira (£6.2m) – 0 minutes
- Andre Gomes (£5.3m) – 0 minutes
Bernardo Silva (£7.9m) opened the scoring as Portugal saw off Luxembourg 3-0 to keep the pressure on Ukraine at the top of Group B.
The Manchester City midfielder, owned by 15% of FPL managers, swept home a loose ball in the 16th minute of a one-sided affair.
Silva played 77 minutes for the Portuguese, while Wolves keeper Rui Patricio (£5.1m) managed the full 90.
Patricio’s club-mate Joao Moutinho (£5.4m) was replaced in stoppage time by a third Wolves player, Ruben Neves (£5.4m).
Leicester City full-back Ricardo Pereira (£6.2m) and Everton midfielder Andre Gomes (£5.3m) were unused subs.
View player and team stats from Portugal v Luxembourg in our Members’ Area.
Ukraine 2-0 Lithuania
- Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.4m) – 90 minutes
- Andriy Yarmolenko (£6.0m) – 65 minutes
Ukraine maintained their five-point lead over Portugal in Group B with a routine win over Lithuania.
West Ham’s popular attacker, the 6%-owned Andriy Yarmolenko (£6.0m), drew the foul that led to Ukraine’s clinching goal on 58 minutes before being withdrawn seven minutes later.
Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.4m) played the full match.
Ukraine and Portugal will go head-to-head on Monday night.
Slovenia U21s 2-2 England U21s
- Aaron Ramsdale (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
- Marc Guehi (£4.0m) – 90 minutes
- Tom Davies (£5.3m) – 90 minutes
- Joe Willock (£5.0m) – 63 minutes
- Lloyd Kelly (£4.4m) – 63 minutes
- Phil Foden (£5.2m) – 62 minutes
- Dwight McNeil (£6.0m) – 45 minutes
- Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.9m) – 45 minutes
- Max Aarons (£4.4m) – 45 minutes
- James Justin (£4.8m) – 45 minutes
- Rhian Brewster (£4.4m)- 45 minutes
- Oliver Skipp (£4.4m) – 28 minutes
Bournemouth’s Aaron Ramsdale (£4.5m) was at the centre of a late capitulation as the England U21 side squandered a two-goal lead in a friendly at Maribor.
The goalkeeper’s misplaced pass allowed the hosts to halve the deficit with eight minutes to go before he was beaten again by a deflected free-kick in the fourth minute of time added on.
Everton’s Tom Davies (£5.3m) started and finished the match, while Arsenal starlet Joe Willock (£5.0m) played 63 minutes and Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden (£5.2m) one minute fewer.
Burnley winger Dwight McNeil (£6.0m), Chelsea’s fit-again Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.9m) and Max Aarons (£4.4m) – that rare commodity, a healthy Norwich City defender – all played the first half.
Round-Up
Arsenal holding midfielder Lucas Torreira (£4.8m) played the full 90 minutes of Uruguay’s narrow win over Peru.
Southampton defender Kevin Danso (£4.4m) captained Austria U21 to a 3-0 win over Turkey U21, playing the full 90 minutes.
Watford midfielder Domingos Quina (£4.4m) played the first half of Portugal U21’s 4-2 loss away at Netherlands U21.
Wolves defender Ruben Vinagre (£4.3m) was an unused sub for Portugal, while Tahith Chong.
4 years, 6 months agoWho would be the first 3 names into your team if you can't have TAA, Salah or Sterling.