Football fans were disappointed to witness distressing scenes of racial abuse in England’s 6-0 win over Bulgaria on Monday night.
The events in Sofia have naturally dominated the headlines both last night and this morning and we at Fantasy Football Scout would like to add our voice to the campaign to kick racism out of the sport we love.
However, there were also plenty of Fantasy Premier League talking points to consider from the latest round of international matches, and we’ve covered them in this Scout Notes article.
Euro 2020 qualifiers
Bulgaria 0-6 England
- Jordan Pickford – 90 minutes
- Ben Chilwell – 90 minutes
- Tyrone Mings – 90 minutes
- Harry Maguire – 90 minutes
- Harry Winks – 90 minutes
- Jordan Henderson – 90 minutes
- Harry Kane – 90 minutes
- Marcus Rashford – 76 minutes
- Ross Barkley – 73 minutes
- Mason Mount – 17 minutes
- Callum Wilson – 14 minutes
England’s 6-0 win over Bulgaria was completely overshadowed by disgraceful scenes of racism at the Vasil Levski Stadium.
The game was stopped twice to deal with racists chants in the crowd and UEFA officials threatened to call the game off.
Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings (£4.6m) was an early target from the home fans while Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) also suffered sickening abuse.
Towards the end of a toxic first half, several Bulgarian supporters left the stadium which made for a strange atmosphere in the second, with large sections of the stadium Vasil Levski already closed after racist incidents back in June.
Given the incredibly tough task of playing under such horrible circumstances, the England team should take serious credit for managing to win so convincingly.
Sterling was the key man, perhaps spurred on by the atmosphere, as he provided the spark for England’s play.
His creativity led to England’s second goal of the night and the Manchester City midfielder scored the fourth and fifth goals too.
Also of interest to his Fantasy owners was the fact that Sterling was replaced by Jadon Sancho after 73 minutes. Management of his game-time will be of encouragement ahead of a Gameweek 9 trip to Crystal Palace.
Despite recent tough times with Tottenham Hotspur, Harry Kane (£10.9m) also put on a superb performance, helping in the build-up to the second goal and providing the assist for the third, fourth and fifth and netting the sixth himself.
Also putting in a much-needed impressive display amid bad club form was Marcus Rashford (£8.4m), who played on the flanks in England’s front-three.
It was the Manchester United man who opened the scoring and spent the night making some excellent runs from wide and cause the defence problems before Callum Wilson (£7.9m) replaced him on the 76th minute.
Also in goal-scoring form on Monday night was Ross Barkley (£5.6m), who found the net twice and also impressed in other areas. The central midfielder won possession back well and also displayed decent technique on the ball.
Harry Winks (£5.4m) was also a calming influence in the England midfield, offering protection for the back-four and distributing well. That will have been a welcome sight for Mauricio Pochettino as he aims to arrest Spurs’ recent slide.
The back-four did not have a massive amount to do in this one but Mings and Maguire looked relatively assured in Bulgaria. Each of them will face much sterner tests in terms of quality of opponents in Gameweek 9 though as Aston Villa and Manchester United go up against Brighton and Liverpool respectively.
Also impressing was Ben Chilwell (£5.4m) who returned to the side having missed the defeat to the Czech Republic.
Reduced minutes in this match will be encouraging for owners of Wilson and Mason Mount (£6.8m) while several key Fantasy assets were unused substitutes.
They were Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m), Fikayo Tomori (£4.7m), Nick Pope (£4.7m), Dean Henderson (£4.5m) and Tammy Abraham (£7.7m).
England XI (4-3-3): Pickford; Chilwell, Mings, Maguire, Trippier; Barkley (Mount 73′), Winks, J Henderson; Rashford (C Wilson 76′), Kane, Sterling (Sancho 73′).
Lithuania 1-2 Serbia
- Luka Milivojevic – 18 minutes
Luka Milivojevic (£6.7m) was the only Fantasy asset to play a part in Serbia’s win over Lithuania.
With Nemanja Matić (£4.8m) not in the squad, the Crystal Palace man featured only as a second-half substitute.
Ukraine 2-1 Portugal
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – 90 minutes
- Andriy Yarmoleno – 90 minutes
- Rui Patrício – 90 minutes
- Joao Moutinho – 90 minutes
- Bernardo Silva – 90 minutes
All of the headlines of this match were dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 700th career goal.
However, Fantasy managers are more likely to be interested in the latest exploits of Andriy Yarmolenko (£6.0m).
The West Ham midfielder helped Ukraine defeat Portugal 2-1 in a historic result, which also booked their qualification for Euro 2020.
That was Yarmolenko’s third goal his last five matches in all competitions, which potentially bodes well ahead of a Gameweek 9 meeting with Everton.
Also involved for Ukraine was Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.4m), who continues to fulfil a central midfield role for his country. That should mean Fantasy managers continue to monitor if Pep Guardiola ever wishes to deploy him there for Premier League matches.
Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva (£7.9m), Joao Moutinho (£5.4m) and Rui Patrício (£5.1m) all played 90 minutes for Portugal.
Ruben Neves (£5.4m), André Gomes (£5.3m) and Ricardo Pereira (£6.2m) were unused substitutes.
France 1-1 Turkey
- Moussa Sissoko – 90 minutes
- Olivier Giroud – 18 minutes
- Çaglar Söyüncü – 90 minutes
- Cenk Tosun – 9 minutes
Olivier Giroud (£6.7m) demonstrated his strength as an impact substitute once again as he scored France’s only goal on Monday night.
While he appears unlikely to dislodge emerging Fantasy favourite Abraham as the number one Chelsea striker anytime soon, what he is capable of the bench is still worth being aware of.
The former Arsenal man headed home an Antoine Griezmann cross in the 76th minute after France had dominated the possession and shot count but failed to find a ruthless edge.
Chelsea fans and those invested in their defence should be encouraged by the fact that N’Golo Kanté (£5.0m) was considered fit enough for an unused substitute role after picking up a muscle injury in the warm-up for Friday’s 1-0 win over Iceland. Either way, Fantasy managers should keep a close eye on Frank Lampard’s
Lucas Digne (£6.0m), Kurt Zouma (£4.7m), Djibril Sidibé (£5.3m) and Tanguy Ndombele (£6.0m) were all left on the France bench ahead of Gameweek 9.
Popular Leicester defender Çaglar Söyüncü (£4.7m) played 90 minutes for Turkey while Everton striker Cenk Tosun (£5.7m) came on only for the last nine minutes.
Iceland 2-0 Andorra
- Gylfi Sigurdsson – 90 minutes
With Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m) coming off injured last week, Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.6m) was the only Fantasy asset involved in Iceland’s 2-0 win over Andorra.
Despite the positive result, it was a night of frustration for the Everton midfielder as he missed yet another penalty.
The Iceland international’s record from the spot in recent years has been far from impressive.
Since June 2018, Sigurdsson has, from a total of nine, scored four but missed five.
Friendlies
Czech Republic 2-3 Northern Ireland
- Michael McGovern – 90 minutes
- Craig Cathcart – 90 minutes
- Jonny Evans – 90 minutes
Jonny Evans (£5.0m) netted his first goal of the season as Northern Ireland beat the Czech Republic during Monday night’s friendly.
The Leicester defender was deployed in a back-three alongside Watford centre-back Craig Cathcart (£4.4m).
Behind the trio was Norwich goalkeeper Michael McGovern (£4.0m), who could be the only starting option in his price bracket and position for Gameweek 9 depending on the fitness of his colleagues.
Burnley goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell (£4.5m) was an unused substitute.
Egypt 1-0 Botswana
- Trézéguet – 90 minutes
Fantasy managers were very happy to see just one asset involved for Egypt on Monday night.
As has been well-documented during this international break, Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) was not involved at all, while Trézéguet (£5.3m) was the only Premier League player to turn out for Egypt.
He stayed on the pitch for all 90 minutes of this friendly win over Botswana while Ahmed El Mohamady (£4.3m), although named in the squad, played no part.
England Under-20s 0-3 Czech Republic
- Lewis Gibson – 90 minutes
- Angel Gomes – 90 minutes
- Callum Slattery – 65 minutes
- Brandon Williams – 65 minutes
It was an evening to forget for the England Under-20s as they lost to the Czech Republic’s same age group side.
Everton’s Lewis Gibson (£4.4m) and Manchester United man Angel Gomes (£4.8m) both played 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, Southampton midfielder Callum Slattery (£4.4m) and United academy left-back Brandon Williams (£4.0m) got 65 minutes under their belt.
Brazil Under-23s 2-3 Japan Under-23s
- Douglas Luiz – 90 minutes
Douglas Luiz (£4.5m) was the only Fantasy asset involved for Brazil Under-23s as they lost 3-2 to their Japanese counterparts.
The Aston Villa midfielder sported the captain’s armband for this match.
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