International Break Roundup (Pre GW8)

Dread it. Run from it. The international break arrives all the same. And boy, oh boy, was this a long one. So, from injuries to goals, assists, and yet more Florian Wirtz disappointment, here are the key FPL takeaways from this international break.

Every year, one poor sod wonders whether Erling Haaland can continue to kick a ball into a rather small net at the rate he has been, and every year that poor sod finds himself bottom of his mini-league.

This year, though, that poor sod may have been right. Erling Haaland missed a penalty before it was retaken, only to miss the retake as well. Granted, he did go on to score a hat-trick in Norway’s first game of the international break, so who’s the real winner here?

After Norway beat Israel 5-0, Haaland was allowed to leave the national team camp early and return to Manchester

Elsewhere, Bukayo Saka started both of England’s games, grabbing a goal and an assist against Wales and Latvia, respectively. Eberechi Eze only played 30 minutes against Latvia, but scored in that time and may be worth considering in FPL, given Martin Ødegaard is expected to be sidelined for 6–8 weeks with a knee injury.

Arsenal’s best striker, Mikel Merino, scored twice past Bulgaria, while that other ironically named Swedish fella, Viktor Gyökeres, lost to Switzerland and… Kosovo? Consequently, Sweden sacked their manager.

William Saliba played consecutive 90s for France, but his centre-back partner, Ibrahima Konaté, wasn’t as lucky. He returned to Liverpool following an injury picked up in GW7.

Mohamed Salah scored two goals for Egypt to help send them to the World Cup, while Florian Wirtz played 179 minutes for Germany and recorded a massive zero goals or assists. Apparently, scoring past a 35-year-old Luxembourg goalkeeper is tougher than it sounds.

Hugo Ekitike started his first game as France’s number nine and got an assist, while Virgil van Dijk, Jeremie Frimpong, and Ryan Gravenberch got some minutes for the Netherlands. Gravenberch, however, had to come off early with a knock. 

Cody Gakpo racked up 4 G+As, earning himself some stroopwafels by a windmill, while Dominik Szoboszlai scored in stoppage time to feed the Hungarians.

In worrying news, Enzo Fernández was sent back to Chelsea, allegedly due to inflammation in his right knee. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since he would have returned late anyway, and they clearly didn’t need him to beat Puerto Rico. They did need a different Argentine, though: Alexis Mac Allister, who netted twice. The Ginger Messi, indeed.

Budget forward darling Lyle Foster withdrew from the South African squad, prompting worries he may not be fit for GW8, while fellow budget relegation contender Omar Alderete returned from Paraguay with a "posterior muscle overload in his thigh", which basically means hamstring tightness.

Continuing the injury theme, Ollie Watkins came off early against Wales following an altercation with the goalpost (if you can’t score, you might as well run into it, hard). Chris Wood hurt his knee, and Niclas Füllkrug tore a muscle in his thigh. Yikes.

Elsewhere, Brentford’s new signing Antoni Milambo tore his ACL while playing for the Netherlands U21s and is out for the season. Speaking of the U21s, Brighton’s Brajan Gruda left Germany’s training camp with a knee issue picked up against Wolves, offering a glimmer of sadistic hope to the last few Georginio Rutter owners out there.

Bruno Fernandes did Bruno Fernandes things for Portugal (got booked), while Caoimhín Kelleher saved a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. He’s now saved 6 of the 11 penalties he’s faced in senior football. Maybe he’s the second-best thing to come out of Ireland after Guinness.

Jean-Philippe Mateta and Nick Woltemade both scored their first international goals, making me wonder if every single player in the world decides goals aren’t worth it only after I transfer them in on FPL , Anthony Gordon scoring for England just confirms it.

But wait! Hold the phone, Casemiro got an assist. Anyone triple captaining him vs Liverpool? Just as surprisingly, Martin Dúbravka kept a clean sheet for Slovakia. Illiman Ndiaye notched up two goal contributions, and his Senegalese teammate Ismaïla Sarr got three, as Senegal cruised to a combined 9-0 win across their two matches.

To end on a happy note, Jordan Pickford agreed to a new contract with Everton, giving hope to all the T-Rex-handed cosplayers out there. Up to chocolates, or whatever they say in the blue end of Merseyside.