The minutes played and distance travelled by Premier League players over the October international break could be significant for Gameweek 9 of Fantasy Premier League.
Over 200 top-flight players have been representing their nations over the last week, including many of the highly owned picks in Fantasy.
Most of them have now returned to their clubs, the majority without picking up an injury.
But it’s fatigue and flight times, not just fitness, that Fantasy managers should think about ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 BST deadline.
Late returns
As is often the case, it's the players from the Americas who are the main concerns for Gameweek 9.
These players were not only the last ones in midweek international action but they also have the longest journeys back to their respective clubs.
Premier League bosses may be wary about starting players who are fatigued after their recent minutes and long-haul flights.
We saw an example of this in Gameweek 5, when Jurgen Klopp benched Darwin Nunez (£7.4m) and Luis Diaz (£7.5m) following their late returns from South America.
Below you can see the players who were in the squad for a match late on Tuesday night or in the early hours of Wednesday morning (BST), and who have had long journeys back to England. You can also see how many minutes they played in the midweek match.
Argentina
Location (kick-off time BST): Peru (Wednesday, 03:00)
Players (minutes): E. Martinez (90), Mac Allister (90), Fernandez (90), J. Alvarez (78), Romero (45), Montiel (34), Lo Celso (12), Garnacho (0).
Brazil
Location (kick-off time BST): Uruguay (Wednesday, 01:00)
Players (minutes): Gabriel (90), Jesus (90), Ederson (90), Casemiro (90), Guimaraes (84), Richarlison (45), Cunha (6), Alisson (0).
Colombia
Location (kick-off time BST): Ecuador (Wednesday, 00:30)
Players (minutes): Diaz (90), Duran (15), Sinisterra (0)
Ecuador
Location (kick-off time BST): Ecuador (Wednesday, 00:30)
Players (minutes): Caicedo (90)
Germany
Location (kick-off time BST): USA (Wednesday, 01:30)
Players (minutes): Gross (45), Havertz (0), Leno (0)
Ghana
Location (kick-off time BST): USA (Wednesday, 01:30)
Players (minutes): Ayew (90), Kudus (75), Partey (64), Semenyo (15)
Mexico
Location (kick-off time BST): USA (Wednesday, 01:00)
Players (minutes): E. Alvarez (90), Jimenez (0)
Paraguay
Location (kick-off time BST): Paraguay (Tuesday, 23:30)
Players (minutes): Almiron (90)
Uruguay
Location (kick-off time BST): Uruguay (Wednesday, 01:00)
Players: Nunez (90), Pellistri (88), Bueno (0)
USA
Location (kick-off time BST): USA (Wednesday, 01:30)
Players: Turner (90), Richards (72), Ream (0), Horvath (0)
Players most at risk of being rested
Nunez and Diaz were again in action in the early hours of Wednesday morning, each playing 90 minutes for their countries.
In fact, they were among a select group of Premier League players to be handed 180 minutes over the two matches by their national sides in October.
Liverpool’s fixture against Everton kicks off at 12:30 BST on Saturday, allowing for even less recovery time for the Reds’ returning internationals.
With Nunez and Diaz getting three hours of pitch-time over the last fortnight, Klopp may again be considering substitute roles for both players.
See: Who are the best Liverpool picks in FPL for their strong fixtures?
The last international match to kick off was Peru v Argentina, which got under way at 03:00 BST on Wednesday.
Julian Alvarez (£7.0m), owned by almost one in three FPL managers, started this match for the FIFA World Cup winners, being handed 78 minutes.
Fantasy managers looking for positive omens will be cheered by Alvarez lasting the whole 90 minutes of Manchester City’s Gameweek 5 match against West Ham United, having returned similarly late from South America then.
Total mins played by most-selected players
| Player | Club | Mins | Player | Club | Mins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haaland | Man City | 167 | Mbeumo | Brentford | 165 |
| Saka | Arsenal | Injured | Udogie | Spurs | 74 |
| Trippier | Newcastle | 118 | Rashford | Man Utd | 119 |
| Mitoma | Brighton | Injured | Ederson | Man City | 180 |
| Maddison | Spurs | 73 | Bowen | West Ham | 90 |
| Salah | Liverpool | 180 | Onana | Man Utd | 90 |
| Areola | West Ham | 0 | Fernandes | Man Utd | 169 |
| Son | Spurs | 90 | Romero | Spurs | 135 |
| Estupinan | Brighton | Injured | Andersen | Crystal Palace | 180 |
| Alvarez | Man City | 131 | Walker | Man City | 90 |
| Cash | Aston Villa | 59 | Botman | Newcastle | Injured |
| Watkins | Aston Villa | 73 | Leno | Fulham | 0 |
| Saliba | Arsenal | Injured | Turner | Nott'm Forest | 180 |
| Odegaard | Arsenal | 168 | Ward-Prowse | West Ham | Not called up |
| Isak | Newcastle | Injured | Diaby | Aston Villa | Not called up |
Of the 30 most-owned players in FPL, six were not representing their nations because of injury.
Pervis Estupinan (£5.1m) and Sven Botman (£4.7m) were omitted from their respective countries’ squads because of fitness issues, while Bukayo Saka (£8.5m), Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m), William Saliba (£5.2m) and Alexander Isak (£7.5m) withdrew from international duty last week through injury.
A further two, James Ward-Prowse (£6.3m) and Moussa Diaby (£6.7m), are fit but didn’t receive call-ups.
Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) was handed 180 minutes for Egypt for their two friendlies, although the second of those contests took place on Monday - so there is a healthy period of recovery for FPL’s joint-top points scorer ahead of Gameweek 9.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m), Erling Haaland (£14.0m), Martin Odegaard (£8.5m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£6.7m) were also kept busy, each logging over 165 minutes for their respective nations.
Again, all four of those players had wrapped up their international commitments by Monday and had relatively short journeys back to England from Europe.
For more useful FPL information on the international break, Fantasy Football Scout’s round-up covers all 20 Premier League clubs in detail.
View all the latest FPL tips ahead of Gameweek 9 in Fantasy Premier League
