De Bruyne in top form as Norwich suffer another injury blow

Our international round-ups continue with a recap of Monday’s matches.

We will again be focusing on only Premier League players as we keep an eye on minutes played, form and injuries.

Subscribers can view data on some of the matches listed below in our Members’ Area, with details available here.

Scotland 0-4 Belgium

• Andrew Robertson (£6.9m) – 90 minutes
• Robert Snodgrass (£5.4m) – 90 minutes
• Kenny McLean (£4.9m) – 90 minutes
• Scott McTominay (£5.0m) – 90 minutes
• Stuart Armstrong (£5.4m) – 22 minutes
• John McGinn (£5.6m) – 4 minutes
• Ryan Fraser (£7.3m) – 0 minutes
• Oli McBurnie (£5.9m) – 0 minutes
• Toby Alderweireld (£5.5m) – 90 minutes
• Jan Vertonghen (£5.3m) – 90 minutes
• Leander Dendoncker (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
• Kevin De Bruyne (£9.8m) – 90 minutes
• Youri Tielemans (£6.4m) – 86 minutes
• Divock Origi (£5.5m) – 0 minutes
• Dennis Praet (£5.4m) – 0 minutes
• Christian Benteke (£5.9m) – 0 minutes
• Michy Batshuayi (£6.7m) – 0 minutes

Kevin De Bruyne (£9.8m) produced a midfield masterclass as Belgium effectively ended Scotland’s slim automatic Euro 2020 qualification hopes.

De Bruyne has delivered six attacking returns in four Gameweeks so far this season and he followed his excellent Premier League form up with another scintillating display at Hampden Park, bagging a goal and three assists.

His ‘hat-trick’ was sealed well before half-time, with a perfectly weighted pass for Romelu Lukaku, a pinpoint cross for Thomas Vermaelen and an inswinging corner for Toby Alderweireld (£5.5m) helping his country to a 3-0 lead.

De Bruyne curled in an excellent goal of his own in the final ten minutes.

There could have been other attacking returns, too: Lukaku and Thomas Meunier both failed to convert excellent passes from the City playmaker, while De Bruyne himself fired wide when well positioned in the 71st minute.

A slight concern for his owners might be that he has played 166 minutes over the international break, although successive 4-0 wins over San Marino and Scotland haven’t required him to get out of second gear.

Ilkay Gundogan (£5.3m) – thanks to an illness picked up on international duty – and David Silva (£8.5m) have had more of a breather over the last week or so, so Pep Guardiola does, in theory, have the option of handing De Bruyne a rest – either in the form of an early substitution or a benching – at Carrow Road on Saturday ahead of the trip to Shakhtar Donetsk a few days later.

There was good news for owners of Leander Dendoncker (£4.5m), meanwhile, with the budget FPL midfielder recovering from the knock that forced him to miss the 4-0 win over San Marino.

The Wolves man played the whole match in central midfield alongside Youri Tielemans (£6.4m), who was substituted in the dying stages.

Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen (£5.3m) completed the game and have both racked up 180 minutes over the international break.

Divock Origi (£5.5m), Dennis Praet (£5.4m) and Michy Batshuayi (£6.7m) were all unused substitutes following their run-outs against San Marino on Friday, while Christian Benteke (£5.9m) hasn’t played a single minute over the international break.

A welcome breather was also given to Ryan Fraser (£7.3m), meanwhile, who didn’t make it off the home bench.

Oli McBurnie (£5.9m) was also not called on, while John McGinn (£5.6m) only saw four minutes of action in the dying stages.

Extended pitch-time for Robert Snodgrass (£5.4m), Kenny McLean (£4.9m) and Scott McTominay (£5.0m) will likely have little impact on the Fantasy community but there was a second successive 90-minute run-out for Andrew Robertson (£6.9m), who still sits in more than one in five FPL squads.

Robertson’s indifferent form for his country continued on Monday evening but the calibre of player around him was a stark contrast to the quality he can lean on at club level.

The Liverpool left-back, who played a full 90 minutes for his club in all four of the league matches that immediately followed the international breaks last season, now has five days to recover before the Gameweek 5 visit of Newcastle.

View player and team stats from Scotland v Belgium in our Members’ Area.

Estonia 0-4 The Netherlands

• Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) – 90 minutes
• Georginio Wijnaldum (£5.5m) – 90 minutes
• Davy Propper (£5.0m) – 90 minutes
• Patrick van Aanholt (£5.6m) – 0 minutes
• Nathan Ake (£4.9m) – 0 minutes

Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) was handed his second 90-minute run-out in the space of four days as the Netherlands put four goals past Estonia in Euro 2020 qualifying Group C.

While van Dijk had his hands full in Friday’s 4-2 win over Germany, this was an altogether more comfortable night for the Liverpool stopper, with the hosts registering just one shot on goal and 28% of possession.

Not that a ‘rest’ in Gameweek 5 would be on the cards, anyway: van Dijk was an ever-present starter in the league last season.

The Dutch centre-back had a couple of efforts on goal himself in Monday’s win, including another headed attempt from a dead-ball situation.

Club colleague Georginio Wijnaldum (£5.5m) also lasted the full game in Tallinn.

Having registered an assist in the 4-2 win over Germany, Wijnaldum scored his country’s fourth goal on Monday when nodding in Memphis Depay’s cross.

Davy Propper (£5.0m) also played the full game in central midfield but Patrick van Aanholt (£5.6m) and Nathan Ake (£4.9m) failed to make it off the bench.

The highest-scoring FPL defender of 2019/20 so far and owned by more than 11% of Fantasy managers, van Aanholt has effectively had a two-week breather as he didn’t play one minute for the Dutch national side across their two Euro 2020 qualifiers.

England under-21s 2-0 Kosovo under-21s

• Aaron Ramsdale (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
• Ben Godfrey (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
• Tom Davies (£5.4m) – 90 minutes
• Phil Foden (£5.3m) – 90 minutes
• Max Aarons (£4.5m) – 80 minutes
• Morgan Gibbs-White (£4.9m) – 61 minutes
• Reiss Nelson (£5.4m) – 61 minutes
• Mason Greenwood (£4.5m) – 29 minutes
• Todd Cantwell (£4.8m) – 29 minutes
• Rhian Brewster (£4.5m) – 14 minutes
• James Justin (£4.9m) – 10 minutes
• Oliver Skipp (£4.5m) – 0 minutes

Already without one defender for the Gameweek 5 visit of Manchester City and with injury doubts hanging over another two centre-halves, Norwich City were handed a fresh blow on Monday as right-back Max Aarons (£4.5m) limped out of England under-21s’ 2-0 win over their Kosovan counterparts.

The initial concern was that Aarons had damaged his knee but the player himself confirmed it was an ankle injury after full-time, saying:

It is just precautionary. I have the crutches out as well but let’s see in the morning. Hopefully nothing too serious.

I thought initially when I made the tackle it was my left knee and there was a lot of pain but by the time I got back to the changing room and then had a shower, it felt a lot better.

The physios have had a look and it is the left ankle area so that is why I have got the boot on.

All bar Oliver Skipp (£4.5m) of the 12 FPL assets in Aidy Boothroyd’s matchday squad were handed minutes on Monday.

Ben Godfrey (£4.5m) at least made it through this game unscathed given Norwich’s issues at centre-back, while Todd Cantwell (£4.8m) made his international debut at this level as a second-half substitute.

Phil Foden (£5.3m) scored both of his country’s goals in his second successive 90-minute run-out, as he awaits his first Premier League start of the campaign with Manchester City.

Bournemouth number one Aaron Ramsdale (£4.5m) kept a clean sheet in the home goal while there were also minutes for Tom Davies (£5.4m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£4.9m), Reiss Nelson (£5.4m), Mason Greenwood (£4.5m), Rhian Brewster (£4.5m) and James Justin (£4.9m) – all very much fringe players at their respective clubs – at the KCOM Stadium.

Greenwood, the most popular FPL budget forward in the game, looked fairly lively on his second-half introduction in attack.

Wales 1-0 Belarus

• Danny Ward (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
• Ben Davies (£5.5m) – 90 minutes
• Harry Wilson (£6.0m) – 89 minutes
• Chris Mepham (£4.5m) – 77 minutes
• Daniel James (£6.1m) – 50 minutes
• Wayne Hennessey (£4.4m) – 0 minutes
• Neil Taylor (£4.5m) – 0 minutes

Daniel James (£6.1m) was on the scoresheet yet again as Wales beat Belarus 1-0 in an international friendly.

James curled home what is fast becoming a trademark right-footed strike after cutting in off the left flank, evoking memories of his excellent goals against Crystal Palace and Southampton.

Further positive news for James’ ever-growing band of FPL owners was that he was withdrawn just after half-time in a planned substitution, giving him a welcome breather ahead of Manchester United’s Gameweek 5 clash with Leicester City on Saturday.

Wales head coach Ryan Giggs said after full-time:

It was a difficult one with Dan whether to rest him, but he wanted to play. When you are in form like his, players just want to play and keep scoring. He gets fans off their feet.

To do what he’s done at the start of the season is amazing. The next step obviously is that consistency, which he’s shown so far and he needs to carry on. But I’ve got no doubts that will happen because he wants to be the best, he’s a great character and a great trainer.

He’s one of those players where you know what he’s going to do but you can’t stop it. There are so many goals like that, but it’s very difficult to stop because he can go either way.

The Bournemouth Echo are reporting that Chris Mepham (£4.5m) may be a fitness worry for Gameweek 5, suggesting that the centre-back’s 77th-minute withdrawal was because of an “injury concern“.

Back-up Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward (£4.5m) was handed a start in goal, while Ben Davies (£5.5m), yet to start a game for Spurs this season after recovering from injury, was withdrawn in stoppage time.

Mepham’s teammate Harry Wilson (£6.0m) also started his second game in four days.

Wayne Hennessey (£4.4m) was an unused substitute while Neil Taylor (£4.5m) wasn’t involved in the matchday squad, although there has been no word yet on whether the Aston Villa full-back’s omission was tactical or because of injury.

Northern Ireland 0-2 Germany

• Bailey Peacock-Farrell (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
• Jonny Evans (£5.0m) – 90 minutes
• Craig Cathcart (£4.4m) – 90 minutes
• Jamal Lewis (£4.5m) – 90 minutes
• Michael McGovern (£4.0m) – 0 minutes
• Bernd Leno (£5.0m) – 0 minutes

A Northern Irish backline featuring four Premier League-based players put up a good fight against Germany on Monday but were ultimately defeated by the new Euro 2020 qualification Group C leaders.

With Norwich City’s defenders dropping like flies, the Canaries at least could breathe a sigh of relief that Jamal Lewis (£4.5m) made it through this test unscathed.

The left-back deputised at centre-half in pre-season as Daniel Farke’s side struggled for numbers at the back and is one option alongside Godfrey when Manchester City visit Carrow Road on Saturday, should Grant Hanley (£4.0m) and Christoph Zimmermann (£4.5m) fail to recover.

Jonny Evans (£5.0m) and Craig Cathcart (£4.4m), first-choice centre-halves at their respective clubs in 2019/20 so far, also came through Monday’s match without any reported injuries.

Burnley’s third-choice goalkeeper, Bailey Peacock-Farrell (£4.5m), was kept busy in the home goal and made some excellent saves as Germany turned the screw in the second half.

With Ilkay Gundogan (£5.3m) having pulled out of Die Mannschaft’s squad ahead of this game because of illness, there was no Premier League representation on the field for Germany – although Bernd Leno (£5.0m) was an unused substitute.

View player and team stats from Northern Ireland v Germany in our Members’ Area.

Algeria 1-0 Benin

• Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) – 77 minutes

Despite earlier reports having suggested otherwise, Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) was involved for his country over the international break.

The Manchester City winger’s one run-out for Algeria over this current fortnight came on Monday in a 1-0 win over Benin.

Mahrez captained his nation and played 77 minutes, going close with an early volley that was palmed out.

Poland 0-0 Austria

• Lukasz Fabianski (£5.0m) – 90 minutes
• Jan Bednarek (£4.5m) – 90 minutes

Lukasz Fabianski (£5.0m) was kept busy as Poland clung on for a point in their 0-0 draw with Austria on Monday.

The West Ham United goalkeeper made six saves – including two important ones from Marko Arnautovic – en route to a well-earned clean sheet as the visitors dominated this Euro 2020 qualification Group G match.

Jan Bednarek (£4.5m) also lasted the course at centre-back, meaning both he and Fabianski have played 180 minutes over this international break.

View player and team stats from Poland v Austria in our Members’ Area.

Hungary 1-2 Slovakia

• Martin Dubrakva (£5.0m) – 90 minutes

Newcastle United’s number one goalkeeper was also in the thick of the action in a 90-minute run-out for Slovakia on Monday.

Martin Dubrakva (£5.0m) made six saves as his country bounced back from Friday’s 4-0 defeat to Croatia, although couldn’t do much about Dominik Szoboszlai’s 50th-minute free-kick that briefly restored parity.

Azerbaijan 1-1 Croatia

• Dejan Lovren – 90 minutes

Dejan Lovren (£5.3m), yet to play for Liverpool this season, completed his second 90-minute run-out in the space of four days as Croatia were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw in Euro 2020 qualification Group E.

Lovren was beaten far too easily as Tamkin Khalilzade danced his way through the Croatia defence to draw the hosts level.

Fitness doesn’t seem to be an issue for Lovren, then, but whether or not the Liverpool stopper features in Jurgen Klopp’s plans when the fixture congestion kicks in next week remains debatable, given his lack of involvement so far.

View player and team stats from Azerbaijan v Croatia in our Members’ Area.