The final international break of 2020/21 reached its conclusion in midweek and it is not just injury and illness that may impact on player availability in Gameweek 30 – it’s game-time, too.
Our Team News tab and our Friday press conference round-up (in both article and video form) will cover everything on the fitness front but it is fatigue we’re focusing more on in this article as we look at how many minutes each FPL asset clocked up while on international duty.
Some nations crammed in a triple-header of games over the last fortnight, with more than a handful of top-flight players taking part in all three of their respective countries’ matches.
As well as on-field exertions, long-haul flights back from further afield may also be a consideration ahead of Easter weekend – although the cancellation of World Cup qualifiers in South America means that this is less of an issue than usual.
MOST MINUTES PLAYED
There were 16 players who lasted 90 minutes in all three of their respective countries’ qualifiers or friendlies, with some big names among that contingent.
Ilkay Gundogan (£6.1m), Ruben Dias (£6.1m), Andrew Robertson (£7.1m) and Tomas Soucek (£5.3m) have significant ownerships in Fantasy Premier League, although all bar Gundogan have been immune to rotation at club-level this season.
Manchester City’s players were made to work the hardest over the last fortnight, with ten of their squad racking up at least 200 minutes of game-time on the continent.
To the best of our knowledge, these were the players – all of whom played at least two-and-a-half matches – who amassed the most minutes over the international break:
Player | Team | Minutes |
Nick Pope | Burnley | 270 |
Antonio Rudiger | Chelsea | 270 |
Seamus Coleman | Everton | 270 |
Kasper Schmeichel | Leicester | 270 |
Caglar Soyuncu | Leicester | 270 |
Andrew Robertson | Liverpool | 270 |
Ruben Dias | Man City | 270 |
Ilkay Gundogan | Man City | 270 |
Oleksandr Zinchenko | Man City | 270 |
Scott McTominay | Man Utd | 270 |
Aaron Ramsdale | Sheff Utd | 270 |
Toby Alderweireld | Spurs | 270 |
Hugo Lloris | Spurs | 270 |
Okay Yokuslu | West Brom | 270 |
Dara O’Shea | West Brom | 270 |
Tomas Soucek | West Ham | 270 |
Eric Garcia | Man City | 266 |
Kieran Tierney | Arsenal | 259 |
Georginio Wijnaldum | Liverpool | 259 |
John McGinn | Aston Villa | 254 |
Joao Cancelo | Man City | 252 |
Ferran Torres | Man City | 252 |
Kalvin Phillips | Leeds | 251 |
Ezgjan Alioski | Leeds | 246 |
Bernardo Silva | Man City | 246 |
Eddie Nketiah | Arsenal | 237 |
Vitinha | Wolves | 236 |
Granit Xhaka | Arsenal | 225 |
Mason Mount | Chelsea | 225 |
Raheem Sterling | Man City | 225 |
John Stones | Man City | 225 |
FURTHEST TRAVELLED AND LATEST RETURNEES
Many of the matches that took place over the international break, including the friendlies involving the USA, were staged in Europe.
Players such as Sadio Mane (£11.8m), Hakim Ziyech (£7.9m) and Riyad Mahrez (£8.1m) have all been in African Cup of Nations qualifying duty in their home continent, meanwhile, although all those games were wrapped up by Tuesday afternoon at the latest.
Takumi Minamino (£6.0m) was the sole Premier League representative involved for his country in Asia, meanwhile, although he too had rounded his involvement off by Tuesday.
It was the Europe-based World Cup qualifiers, friendlies and under-21 matches on Wednesday that were the last to take place, with England, Germany, France, Scotland and Spain among the nations in action.
The dates for all of the international games in March are available here.
CLUB-BY-CLUB ROUND-UP
The team-by-team guide below breaks down the minutes that each player has played per international match over the last week or so, with a total given at the end.
Any players with an asterisk next to their names withdrew from their countries’ squads either midway through the international break or picked up an injury at the back-end of it.
As mentioned earlier, we’ll have further details on any lingering fitness concerns in our pre-Gameweek 30 team news round-up on Friday.
ARSENAL
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Gabon – 90
- Mohamed Elneny – Egypt – 0 + 90 = 90
- Bernd Leno – Germany – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Eddie Nketiah – England under-21s – 76 + 90 + 71 = 237
- Martin Odegaard – Norway – 45 + 90 + 81 = 216
- Thomas Partey – Ghana – 70
- Nicolas Pépé – Ivory Coast – 85 + 0 = 85
- Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson – Iceland – 0 + 0 + 90 = 90
- Bukayo Saka – England – 0 + 0 + 0* = 0
- Emile Smith Rowe – England under-21s – 66 + 45 + 0* = 111
- Cedric Soares – Portugal – 0 + 90 + 0 = 90
- Kieran Tierney – Scotland – 90 + 90 + 79 = 259
- Granit Xhaka – Switzerland – 90 + 90 + 45 = 225
ASTON VILLA
- John McGinn – Scotland – 90 + 74 + 90 = 254
- Tyrone Mings – England – 45 + 0 + 0 = 45
- Bertrand Traoré – Burkina Faso – 90 + 90 = 180
- Trezeguet – Egypt – 62 + 60 = 122
- Ollie Watkins – England – 27 + 0 + 0 = 27
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
- Aaron Connolly – Republic of Ireland – 67 + 0 + 0* = 67
- Jakub Moder – Poland – 59 + 0 + 90 = 149
- Robert Sanchez – Spain – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Percy Tau – South Africa – 90 + 61 = 151
- Leandro Trossard – Belgium – 1 + 34 + 90 = 125
- Joël Veltman – Netherlands – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Andi Zeqiri – Swizerland under-21s – 90 + 65 + 29 = 184
BURNLEY
- Robbie Brady – Republic of Ireland – 11 + 45 + 22* = 78
- Johann Berg Gudmundsson – Iceland – 0 + 77 + 63 = 140
- Dwight McNeil – England under-21s – 76 + 35 + 89 = 200
- Bailey Peacock-Farrell – Northern Ireland – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Nick Pope – England – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Matej Vydra – Czech Republic – 25 + 12 + 3 = 40
CHELSEA
- Ben Chilwell – England – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Andreas Christensen – Denmark – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Olivier Giroud – France – 63 + 0 + 31 = 94
- Kai Havertz – Germany – 79 + 77 + 56 = 212
- Callum Hudson-Odoi – England under-21s – 90 + 0 + 0* = 90
- Reece James – England – 45 + 0 + 4 = 49
- N’Golo Kanté – France – 90 + 0 + 0* = 90
- Mateo Kovačić – Croatia – 82 + 13 + 90 = 185
- Mason Mount – England – 45 + 90 + 90 = 225
- Emerson Palmieri – Italy – 75 + 0 + 56 = 131
- Christian Pulisic – USA – 45 + 90 = 135
- Antonio Rüdiger – Germany – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Timo Werner – Germany – 11 + 13 + 34 = 58
- Hakim Ziyech – Morocco – 88 + 9 = 97
- Kurt Zouma – France – 0 + 90 + 0 = 90
CRYSTAL PALACE
- Jordan Ayew – Ghana – 90
- Michy Batshuayi – Belgium – 0 + 0 + 64 = 64
- Christian Benteke – Belgium – 0 + 0 + 26 = 26
- Wayne Hennessey – Wales – 0 + 90 + 0 = 90
- Eberechi Eze – England under-21s – 24 + 45 + 90 = 159
- Cheikhou Kouyaté – Senegal – 90 + 90 = 180
- Patrick van Aanholt – Netherlands – 8 + 0 + 0 = 8
- Wilfried Zaha – Ivory Coast – 23 + 69 = 92
EVERTON
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin – England – 63 + 0 + 1 = 64
- Seamus Coleman – Republic of Ireland – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Tom Davies – England under-21s – 66 + 72 + 0* = 138
- Lucas Digne – France – 0 + 90 + 0 = 90
- Ben Godfrey – England under-21s – 90 + 90 + 0* = 180
- Alex Iwobi – Nigeria – 0 + 75 = 75
- Josh King – Norway – 28 + 23 + 10 = 61
- Robin Olsen – Sweden – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- João Virgínia – Portugal under-21s – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
FULHAM
- Ola Aina – Nigeria – 84 + 0 = 84
- Joachim Andersen – Denmark – 13 + 90 + 25 = 128
- Alphonse Areola – France – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Michael Hector – Jamaica – 90
- Mario Lemina – Gabon – 90
- Aleksandar Mitrović – Serbia – 27 + 88 + 86 = 201
- Tim Ream – USA – 0 + 90 = 90
- Antonee Robinson – USA – 23 + 90 = 113
- Kenny Tete – Netherlands – 69 + 0 + 0 = 69
- Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa – Cameroon – 83
LEEDS UNITED
- Ezgjan Alioski – North Macedonia – 90 + 66 + 90 = 246
- Stuart Dallas – Northern Ireland – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Mateusz Klich – Poland – 0 + 0 + 0* = 0
- Diego Llorente – Spain – 0 + 45 + 0 = 45
- Illan Meslier – France under-21s – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Kalvin Phillips – England – 90 + 71 + 90 = 251
- Tyler Roberts – Wales – 24 + 65 + 77 = 166
LEICESTER CITY
- Timothy Castagne – Belgium – 6 + 90 + 0 = 96
- Jonny Evans – Northern Ireland – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Wesley Fofana – France under-21s – 90 + 0 + 0 = 90
- Kelechi Iheanacho – Nigeria – 71 + 87 = 158
- Nampalys Mendy – Senegal – 78 + 90 = 168
- Wilfred Ndidi – Nigeria – 90 + 90 = 180
- Dennis Praet – Belgium – 0+ 0 + 71 = 71
- Kasper Schmeichel – Denmark – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Youri Tielemans – Belgium – 90 + 90 + 19 = 199
- Caglar Soyuncu – Turkey – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Danny Ward – Wales – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
LIVERPOOL
- Thiago Alcantara – Spain – 18 + 35 + 0 = 53
- Curtis Jones – England under-21s – 24 + 18 + 90 = 132
- Diogo Jota – Portugal – 0 + 85 + 68 = 153
- Ozan Kabak – Turkey – 90 + 4 + 90 = 184
- Naby Keïta – Guinea – 90
- Sadio Mane – Senegal – 90 + 25 = 115
- Andrew Robertson – Scotland – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Mohamed Salah – Egypt – 90 + 90 = 180
- Xherdan Shaqiri – Switzerland – 75 + 80 + 45 = 200
- Kostas Tsimikas – Greece – 80 + 0 + 0 = 80
- Georginio Wijnaldum – Netherlands – 90 + 79 + 90 = 259
- Neco Williams – Wales – 90 + 25 + 90 = 205
MANCHESTER CITY
- Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium – 90 + 90 + 0 = 180
- João Cancelo – Portugal – 90 + 72 + 90 = 252
- Rúben Dias – Portugal – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Phil Foden – England – 45 + 81 + 86 = 212
- Eric Garcia – Spain – 90 + 90 + 86 = 266
- Ilkay Gundogan – Germany – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Riyad Mahrez – Algeria – 90
- Rodri – Spain – 90 + 0 + 8 = 98
- Bernardo Silva – Portugal – 88 + 90 + 68 = 246
- Zach Steffen – USA – 90 + 90 = 180
- Raheem Sterling – England – 45 + 90 + 90 = 225
- John Stones – England – 45 + 90 + 90 = 225
- Ferran Torres – Spain – 72 + 90 + 90 = 252
- Kyle Walker – England – 0 + 90 + 90 = 180
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – Ukraine – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
MANCHESTER UNITED
- Eric Bailly – Ivory Coast – 66 + 0 = 66
- David De Gea – Spain – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Amid Diallo – Ivory Coast – 5 + 0 = 5
- Dean Henderson – England – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Bruno Fernandes – Portugal – 45 + 90 + 0 = 135
- Daniel James – Wales – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Victor Lindelöf – Sweden – 90 + 90 + 0 = 180
- Harry Maguire – England – 0 + 90 + 90 = 180
- Anthony Martial – France – 13 + 59 + 0* = 72
- Scott McTominay – Scotland – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Paul Pogba – France – 27 + 59 + 90 = 176
- Marcus Rashford – England – 0 + 0 + 0* = 0
- Luke Shaw – England – 0 + 90 + 0 = 90
- Donny van de Beek – Netherlands – 0 + 11 + 13 = 24
NEWCASTLE UNITED
- Ciaran Clark – Republic of Ireland – 79 + 61 + 0 = 140
- Martin Dubravka – Slovakia – 90 + 0 + 0* = 90
- Ryan Fraser – Scotland – 0 + 86 + 79 = 165
- Jeff Hendrick – Republic of Ireland – 29 + 0 + 84 = 113
- Emil Krafth – Sweden – 6 + 0 + 90 = 96
- Jamal Lewis – Northern Ireland – 0 + 30 + 90 = 120
SHEFFIELD UNITED
- Ethan Ampadu – Wales – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Rhian Brewster – England under-21s – 14 + 7 + 19 = 40
- John Fleck – Scotland – 0 + 0 + 17 = 17
- Oliver McBurnie – Scotland – 0 + 0 + 17 = 17
- Aaron Ramsdale – England under-21s – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Enda Stevens – Republic of Ireland – 90 + 90 + 0* = 180
SOUTHAMPTON
- Che Adams – Scotland – 24 + 75 + 73 = 172
- Stuart Armstrong – Scotland – 66 + 4 + 0 = 70
- Jan Bednarek – Poland – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Moussa Djenepo – Mali – 90
- Takumi Minamino – Japan – 86 + 71 = 157
- Jannik Vestergaard – Denmark – 0 + 90 + 0 = 90
- James Ward-Prowse – England – 90 + 19 + 0* = 109
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
- Toby Alderweireld – Belgium – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Serge Aurier – Ivory Coast – 90 + 90 = 180
- Gareth Bale – Wales – 84 + 9 + 90 = 183
- Steven Bergwijn – Netherlands – 0 + 1 + 0 = 1
- Eric Dier – England – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Matt Doherty – Republic of Ireland – 90 + 45 + 0* = 135
- Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – Denmark – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Harry Kane – England – 0 + 90 + 89 = 179
- Hugo Lloris – France – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Tanguy Ndombele – France – 0 + 82 + 0 = 82
- Joe Rodon – Wales – 90 + 0 + 90 = 180
- Moussa Sissoko – France – 0 + 8 + 1 = 9
- Japhet Tanganga – England under-21s – 0 + 90 + 90 = 180
WEST BROMWICH ALBION
- Semi Ajayi – Nigeria – 0 + 0 = 0
- Mbaye Diagne – Senegal – 0 + 73 = 73
- Conor Gallagher – England under-21s – 0 + 18 + 72 = 90
- Kamil Grosicki – Poland – 6 + 30 + 5 = 41
- Sam Johnstone – England – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Dara O’Shea – Republic of Ireland – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Callum Robinson – Republic of Ireland – 79 + 73 + 33 = 185
- Hal Robson-Kanu – Wales – 0 + 45 + 0 = 45
- Okay Yokuslu – Turkey – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
WEST HAM UNITED
- Said Benrahma – Algeria – 61
- Vladimír Coufal – Czech Republic – 0 + 90 + 87 = 177
- Lukasz Fabianski – Poland – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Jesse Lingard – England – 90 + 9 + 1 = 100
- Declan Rice – England – 0 + 90 + 90 = 180
- Tomáš Souček – Czech Republic – 90 + 90 + 90 = 270
- Andriy Yarmolenko – Ukraine – 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
- Willy Boly – Ivory Coast – 90 + 90 = 180
- Conor Coady – England – 90 + 0 + 0 = 90
- Leander Dendoncker – Belgium – 90 + 90 + 26 = 206
- João Moutinho – Portugal – 45 + 0 + 0* = 45
- Pedro Neto – Portugal – 63 + 0 + 49 = 112
- Rúben Neves – Portugal – 88 + 0 + 89 = 177
- Owen Otasowie – USA – 0 + 0 = 0
- Romain Saïss – Morocco – 90 + 90 = 180
- Vitinha – Portugal under-21s – 73 + 90 + 73 = 236
3 years, 5 months ago
Are we over hyping Alonso?
Is he too much of a punt considering he has only started 1 out of last 4?
Are we over-reaching to convince ourselves he is likely to start?