With all major European competitions reaching the business end of the season these weeks and the European national teams needing to submit their preliminary selections for this summer’s European Championship in about two months, we would almost forget that there is World Cup football to enjoy as well these days. Or at least, World Cup qualifiers, as this international break sees national teams around the world embark on their quests to be present in November and December 2022 when the world’s biggest sporting event kicks off in the Qatari desert.
In the 12 days between the final kick of Premier League match day 29 and the kick-off for match day 30 this coming Saturday, most national teams will have played three qualifiers. Naturally, this means that many Premier League players will be featuring for their respective national sides as well. From Iceland to Gibraltar and from Spain to Russia, players from all over the continent will be flying out to join their national teams and play for World Cup glory. And if you’re looking to place a bet consider 888sport Promo Code which could help with enhancing the sports fans enjoyment of the action. With just a few days between today and gameweek 30 of the English top flight left, we figured it could be interesting to take a look at some Premier League stars that have been performing well during the current international break.
England
Logic dictates that we start with the Three Lions, who have a relatively kind schedule set up for them over this international break. San Marino was sent back home 5-0, while Albania were defeated 0-2 and the Lewandowski-less Poland are still left for the English to beat. It was a period of first times for a few players, as Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins made his debut and immediately scored against San Marino, while Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse scored his first England goal against them. Fantasy football favourites Harry Kane, Mason Mount and even Raheem Sterling all scored as well over the past week.
All-time great
For his country, that is, because Aleksandar Mitrovic‘ return to the Premier League has not been overly successful with 2 goals and 3 assists so far this season. With Serbia though, Mitrogol started against both Ireland and Portugal, and scored 3 goals in total to crown himself Serbia’s all-time top scorer.
The saviour
Apart from Portugal, one place where the efforts and goals of Diogo Jota definitely have not gone unnoticed is Liverpool. The former Wolves winger remained benched for the first encounter with Azerbaijan, but started for his country against Serbia and promptly netted twice to reach the 2-2 final score and scored again in the 3-1 win against Luxembourg. That should be good news for the red side of Liverpool.
The rotation monster 2.0
We’re sticking with Portugal and this one is especially aimed at the Fantasy Premier League managers amongst us. That’s because some of the most popular fantasy assets are also some of the most rotation-prone ones, as they play for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. It’s probably interesting to know that defenders Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva have all been getting plenty of minutes during the World Cup qualifiers so far.
Form is form
The Czech Republic have gotten off to a decent start in Group E with a 2-6 away victory over Estonia and a 1-1 draw with Belgium. West Ham midfield revelation Tomas Souček announced his goal instinct to English football fans already this season by scoring 9 goals (+ 1 assist) and he has confirmed it once again this break by scoring a perfect hat-trick against Estonia (left foot shot, right foot shot, header). The Hammers midfielder started both games for his country and even wore the captain’s armband for the draw with Belgium who’s next match against Belarus was rather easier with Belgium running out 8-0 winners thanks to goals from Brighton’s Trossard and Leicester’s Praet plus Michy Batshuayi & Christian Benteke (Belgium had the luxury of leaving Kevin de Bruyne on the bench, along with Roman Lukaku).