Five Best Premier League Players During The International Break
The international break is all done now and the players return to their respective clubs as we await the return of Premier League action, after two weeks.
It might not be the most exciting of the times for club managers, but it does provide players with an opportunity to make an impression for their nations in the all-important World Cup qualifiers and in turn stake a claim for a spot in their club line-ups.
There were a number of Premier League players who struggled, but quite a few had a good time on their international duties, and here we pick the five best players from the English top-flight who performed well for their respective countries.
Marcus Rashford
The Manchester United man, away on international duty with England, turned out to be the spark for Gareth Southgate’s side in both their qualifier ties, against Malta and Slovakia.
With the Three Lions struggling for momentum against Malta, Rashford came on at half-time to turn things around for them, as they ran out 4-0 winners, with the 19-year old picking an assist, with a delightful cross for Harry Kane to finish. The forward then went on to score the winner against Slovakia, as England emerged victorious 2-1.
Romelu Lukaku
Another Manchester United man, who can’t stop scoring at the moment, for club and for country!
The 24-year old grabbed a hat-trick for Belgium in the 9-0 rout of minnows Gibraltar, before netting the winner against Greece as Roberto Martinez’s side won 2-1, to guarantee their qualification for the group stages of the mega event in Russia. The burly forward has netted 10 times for Belgium in the qualifiers now.
Ben Woodburn
Liverpool’s 17-year old wonder-kid made himself known throughout the world with two stellar performances for Wales during the international break. In what were two crucial games in order to keep their qualifying hopes alive, Woodburn stepped up in a big way for Chris Coleman’s side.
The attacker scored the only goal against Austria four minutes after coming on from the bench and then went on to have a similar impact against Moldova, as he came on and assisted Hal Robson-Kanu for the opening goal with ten minutes left to play. Jurgen Klopp, were you watching?
Christian Eriksen
The Tottenham Hotspur playmaker has emerged as one of the finest creators in the Premier League in the past couple of years and carried over his good form while on duty for Denmark as well.
The former Ajax playmaker netted for the Danes in an impressive 4-0 win over Poland, before finding the back of the net once again in the 4-1 triumph over Armenia, with a trademark free-kick. Denmark had found themselves in a must-win situation to remain in contention for qualification and Eriksen stood up and took the responsibilites for his team, when they badly needed it.
Mesut Ozil
The Arsenal midfielder is never far away from criticism, while playing for the Gunners and will have welcomed the international break, after the club were mauled 4-0 by Liverpool.
Ozil, away from the Emirates, displayed his class, in two very good games for Die Mannschaft, as he assisted Timo Werner’s goal in the 2-1 win over Czech Republic, before scoring and assisting one apiece within the first 17 minutes of the game, in Germany’s 6-0 hammering of Norway. The former Real Madrid man is always under the scanner, but displayed his class for Joachim Low’s side during the break and now the fans will be hoping that he translates that form to club football as well.