🌍 The international break is still happening, but the Premier League returns on Saturday 10th October.

🤕 Tzolis, O’Reilly, Havertz, van Hecke, Gakpo, Isak and Brobbey are among those who have picked up injuries during the break.

🦵🏻 Pedro is receiving specialist knee treatment to accelerate his return.

👀 Saliba is expected back in early November. Mosquera is also back in training.

🎁 This is a small, bonus newsletter. The proper one will land in your inbox on Friday morning.

Alright?

Well, we were hoping for a quiet, uneventful international break. Free from injuries, news and, in particular, scandal.

Scandal was, unequivocally, the thing we wanted to avoid the most.

Plenty of column inches have been dedicated to Man City’s guilty verdict, written by smarter, more informed people than us.

But none of them has deigned to answer the biggest question of them all: What does this mean for FPL managers?

Is the integrity of the game - FPL, that is - under threat? Will managers - FPL managers, that is - be filing lawsuits? Has league prize money - FPL mini-league prize money, that is - been lost as a result of Man City’s cheating?

City’s appeal remains ongoing, so we’ll have to wait for these answers. But how might this verdict impact our FPL teams in the immediate term?

In this newsletter, we’ll ponder this a bit. We’ll also update you on some fresh injuries and talk briefly about the Wildcard.

The Japanese used to have a concept called Hitobashira. When a lord wanted to build a huge structure, they would offer human lives to the Gods as a sacrifice to ensure the building’s stability and longevity.

The international break is our version of Hitobashira. Our players are offered to their national teams, but some never return. At least not straight away.

Here are the souls in doubt for Gameweek 6.

Brobbey | Sunderland’s Brobbey was back on the FPL radar after scoring a hat-trick in Gameweek 5. But 35 minutes of international football has removed him from said radar. A Dutch doctor described his hamstring injury as “very serious” whilst lamenting the impacts of fixture congestion, but we don’t have a timeline yet.

Tzolis | Arsenal’s Greek budget winger is expected to miss four weeks with a hamstring injury, according to Greek sources.

Gakpo | After twisting his ankle, a Dutch report has said he’s expected to miss “several weeks”.

Isak | The hope is that Isak will play in Gameweek 6. He had a bloody toe and Potter - Graham, not Harry - has said he also has an issue with his thigh. He’s back in Liverpool, and it’s not thought to be serious.

van Hecke | Apparently, van Hecke’s toe was so sore that he couldn’t even touch the ball in training, says Xavi, the Dutch coach. He’s back at Spurs now, but he’s a doubt for Gameweek 6’s fixture against Man United.

O’Reilly | He’s back at Man City for “further assessment” after withdrawing from the England squad. That’s about all we know.

Havertz | The Arsenal forward suffered a muscle strain and had to leave the Germany camp early. His return date is unknown, but if Gyökeres has to deputise for him, that could affect Saka’s penalty duties.

As much as we’d love to be football’s moral arbiters, we’re not. We did apply for the position, but The Guardian pipped us to the post.

So this section isn't about Manchester City's guilt or innocence. As with everything in this newsletter, we’ll look at it through the perverted lens of FPL.

Will this impact my FPL team?

On the “things that might impact your FPL team” list, the Man City scandal ranks fairly low. Here’s a glimpse of it:

1) Your own incompetence.
2) The mortality of man.
3) Not signing up for LazyFPL Premium.
4) Real ale.
…
1,327) The Man City scandal.

Sure, the Man City scandal is higher than some factors - like being blinded by staring at a total eclipse for too long, or getting stuck in a sleeping bag right before the deadline. But for now, it’s still pretty low.

Your FPL team will not be immediately impacted by this. Man City are pursuing an appeal, and any real-world ramifications will not be felt for a while.

There may be some indirect impact. In England’s game vs Spain, played just days after the guilty verdict was revealed, both O’Reilly and Guéhi made errors that led to a goal. Haaland and Dias were seen exchanging hushed words after Norway vs Portugal. Clearly, this scandal will affect Man City players because, last time we checked, Man City players are human beings. Even the robot.

Then there’s the booing. Yes, there will be booing. A lot of booing. Imagine the boos when Enzo gets the ball - it’ll be booing squared. Compounded boos.

Some players thrive in this environment, others don’t. Perhaps it’ll foster an “us vs the world” spirit. You can imagine how Maresca might leverage that universal hatred in his dressing-room speeches.

It remains to be seen. After the international break, Man City will have regular midweek fixtures alongside their league commitments, predominantly because of the UCL. This, we think, will impact your FPL picks far more in the short-to-medium term.

A lot of you are playing your Wildcard during this international break.

We’ll dig into your Wildcard more in our “proper” newsletter, sent 24h before Gameweek 6’s deadline.

But for now, here’s a draft that might provide some inspiration:

Okay, we promised a quick one, and for our standards, this was the van de Ven of newsletters. We’ll be back on Friday for more.

Stay lazy,

The LazyFPL Team.