The latest international break continued on Monday with another round of matches.
As the final one of 2019 continues to wind to a close, we’ve got all the Fantasy Premier League implications from the evening’s action in this Scout Notes article.
Euro 2020 qualifying
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Denmark
Matt Doherty (£6.0m) got his first-ever international goal for the Republic of Ireland on Monday night but it was not quite enough for his country to qualify for Euro 2020 automatically.
Mick McCarthy’s side, who will now have to go through March’s qualifiers, were by far the dominant force in this fixture but could not find a clinical edge until the closing stages.
Conor Hourihane (£5.7m) pounced on a loose ball in the first half, went through on goal but fired a left-footed effort straight at Kasper Schmeichel (£5.2m)
Soon after David McGoldrick (£5.4m) held the ball up nicely in his centre-forward role and set up Alan Browne for a volley just wide of the post.
The Sheffield United striker had a second-half chance in the box after a cross from colleague Enda Stevens (£5.1m) but could not sort his feet out and blasted over the bar.
The delivery of the former Portsmouth left-back, who has 51 FPL points so far this season, continues to impress as it was his cross which set-up Doherty at the back-post to equalise in the 84th minute.
As Fantasy managers consider alternative routes into the Sheffield United defence, Stevens is still an appealing prospect, now just £0.2m more expensive than John Lundstram (£4.9m).
However, those invested at that end of the pitch for the Blades may want to keep an eye on John Egan (£4.5m) who was replaced by Ciaran Clark (£4.3m) at half-time after picking up a calf injury.
Denmark still managed to find a way through in the 73rd minute as Henrik Dalsgaard’s cross was hooked home by Martin Braithwaite.
Christian Eriksen (£8.7m) was officially named as a centre-forward in the Danes’ 4-2-2-2 formation while Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (£4.8m) replaced an injured Thomas Delaney after 13 minutes.
Chelsea man Andreas Christensen (£4.9m) came on for Lasse Schöne in the 84th minute.
Mark Travers (£4.3m), Kevin Long (£4.3m), Robbie Brady (£5.5m) and Troy Parrott (£4.4m) were all unused substitutes for the Republic of Ireland.
Republic of Ireland XI (4-2-3-1): Randolph; Stevens, Egan (Clark 46′), Duffy, Doherty; Hourihane (Robinson 68′), Whelan (S Maguire 82′); McClean, Hendrick, Browne; McGoldrick.
Gibraltar 1-6 Switzerland
Granit Xhaka (£5.2m) scored for Switzerland as they wrapped up qualification for Euro 2020.
West Ham striker Albian Ajeti (£5.8m) was an unused substitute.
Greece 2-1 Finland
Teemu Pukki (£6.7m) rounded off a perfect international break from a personal perspective.
Having gone seven Premier League matches without a goal, he has found the net three times in his last two for Finland.
After a brace helped secure qualification to a first-ever major tournament last week, Pukki went on to score in a 2-1 defeat to Greece on Monday night.
Italy 9-1 Armenia
Jorginho (£5.1m) had a particularly enjoyable Monday night as he helped contribute to a massive 9-1 win for Italy over Armenia.
The Chelsea midfielder provided the assist for Nicolo Zaniolo in the 64th minute before dispatching a 75th-minute penalty.
Club-mate Emerson Palmieri (£5.5m) was named in the Italy squad and played in the 3-0 win over Bosnia on Friday but was absent against Armenia, not even an unused substitute. No reason has been revealed for this thus far and we may have to wait until Frank Lampard’s next press conference to find out whether or not he has sustained an injury.
Liechtenstein 0-3 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sheffield United’s Muhamed Bešić (£4.5m) was the only Premier League player involved for Bosnia as they won 3-0 in Liechtenstein.
Sead Kolasinac (£5.3m) was in action for his country against Italy last week but was absent from the matchday squad on Monday night.
Malta 1-2 Norway
Monday night was an eventful one for Josh King (£6.3m). The Bournemouth striker scored the opening goal of Norway’s 2-1 win against Malta.
However, in the second half, he missed a penalty and was taken off with an injury late-on.
In an interview with Norwegian television after the game, he reportedly claimed his hamstring was sore, that he would need assessment upon returning to Bournemouth and that his best guess was that he’d be missing for two weeks.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland (£4.3m) played the whole match for Norway.
Spain 5-0 Romania
Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5.5m) picked up a clean sheet for Spain in their 5-0 win over Romania.
Meanwhile, David de Gea (£5.5m) and Rodrigo (£5.4m) were both unused substitutes.
Sweden 3-0 Faroe Islands
Victor Lindelöf (£5.3m) was an unused substitute for Sweden as they beat the Faroe Islands 3-0.
Once again, Newcastle defender Emil Krafth (£4.4m) was not involved. He was due to become a father over the international break.
International friendlies
Argentina 2-2 Uruguay
Sergio Aguero (£12.0m) finally got some international break game-time under his belt as he played 90 minutes for Argentina on Monday.
The Manchester City forward found the net in a friendly encounter with Uruguay, played in Israel, so there should be very few concerns over jet-lag.
Aguero’s club-mate Nicolas Otamendi (£5.2m) also played the full match at centre-back but was unable to keep Edinson Cavani or Luis Suárez out.
Giovani Lo Celso (£7.3m) and Juan Foyth (£4.9m) were unused substitutes for Argentina while Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira (£4.8m) also started and finished the game for Uruguay.
2021 AFCON qualifying
Without the injured Mohamed Salah (£12.3m), Egypt slipped to another disappointing qualifying draw, this time with Comoros.
Trézéguet (£5.2m) was the only Premier League player involved in this encounter and had the chance to win it late on when he was put through for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper but he hooked his shot just wide of the post.
Jordan Ayew (£5.1m) went one better than that as he netted the only goal of Ghana’s 1-0 win over Sao Tomé from the penalty spot.
Algeria secured a victory by the same scoreline in Botswana but did so without captain Riyad Mahrez (£8.4m) who did not play due to “personal reasons”.
Victor Wanyama (£4.8m) started Kenya’s 1-1 draw with Togo while West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku (£4.4m) featured in a 2-2 draw with The Gambia for DR Congo.
Under-21 Euro Qualifiers
Hungary Under-21s 0-1 Austria Under-21s
Southampton defender Kevin Danso (£4.3m) got himself some much-needed respite from a relegation battle as Austria Under-21s won in Hungary.
The left-back scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory.
Nominated for ‘Best in Fantasy Football – Editorial’ at the Football Content Awards 2020
4 years, 5 months agoPL is back soon yaaaaay