Premier League Team & Injury News: Which players were injured during the international break and who amassed the most minutes?

The extended break from club football is drawing to a close – but a host of Premier League sides will be counting the cost of their players’ international endeavours.

Numerous stars from England’s top flight teams have picked up injuries while away with their respective countries, while a number of others may be feeling the strain after playing a high volume of minutes since their last domestic outings.

Any absentees could have a significant impact on this weekend’s fixtures, as well as the Premier League campaign more broadly.

After all, there is plenty on the line in Gameweek 6, with Arsenal hosting Leeds United, Manchester United facing Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool taking on Manchester City.

Ahead of a tantalising set of matches, we take a look at who will be missing through injury and which players might be in need of a rest following the international break.

Attacking absentees as Liverpool and Arsenal hit hard

One of the biggest fears of most clubs is their star striker picking up an injury on international duty – and that has come to pass for Liverpool, Arsenal and Sunderland.

Alexander Isak left the Sweden squad after their opening UEFA Nations League game against Romania, during which he got on the scoresheet.

He returned to Merseyside for treatment on a thigh issue, leaving the Reds sweating on his fitness ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester City.

Isak isn’t the only Liverpool player in danger of missing that match, either, with Cody Gakpo having to come off after injuring his ankle against Serbia and Jérémy Jacquet straining his hamstring prior to France’s 4-1 victory over Belgium on Monday.

Head coach Andoni Iraola is surely exasperated by those developments, though he won’t be the only Premier League manager feeling a sense of frustration.

Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta can join him on that front, with frontman Kai Havertz potentially facing weeks out of action after injuring his hamstring just 30 minutes into Germany’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands.

And matches against the Oranje proved particularly costly from a Gunners perspective, as Greek winger Christos Tzolis also went down with a hamstring injury versus Xavi Hernández’s outfit.

He could miss a number of fixtures, while Enzri Konsa’s absence from England’s matchday squad for Tuesday’s victory over Czechia has raised some questions over his availability for this weekend.

Pulled hamstrings have been a theme of this international break – and Sunderland Dutch striker Brain Brobbey succumbed to that fate against Germany, joining his team-mate Dan Ballard in the treatment room following his own similar injury while with Northern Ireland.

But there could be better news for Manchester City supporters, who will have been worried to see Erling Haaland signaling to come off during Norway’s 2-1 defeat to Portugal on Sunday.

Fortunately, Landslaget manager Ståle Solbakken has indicated that he was simply managing the goal machine’s minutes, saying: “We were hoping for 60 minutes, and he [Haaland] managed 65.”

The Citizens didn’t escape unscathed, though, with Nico O’Reilly withdrawing from the England squad through injury at the beginning of October.

Cherries complain about Scott as United face full-back absences

Talking of England internationals, Bournemouth have been left frustrated after Alex Scott suffered a tendon injury while with the Three Lions – potentially keeping him out for several weeks.

It was a disappointing outcome for the 23-year-old, who put in a memorable performance on his first-ever national team start in the 7-0 demolition of Croatia.

However, England manager Tuchel Tuchel has insisted he didn’t take any risks with Scott, despite suggestions the midfielder felt discomfort before facing the Croatians.

“I can totally understand that Bournemouth are not happy and sad because they lose a key player, but I can say from the moment we took the decision to let him play, there was absolutely no risk whatsoever apparent to me or our physical staff that we have risk of an injury,” he said.

Meanwhile, Manchester United are reeling from injuries to two of their full-backs, with both Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui potentially out of action for Saturday’s home match against Tottenham.

Dorgu appeared to injure his hamstring while featuring for Denmark versus Wales, which is particularly worrying as a similar problem kept him out for over three months last term.

The Red Devils are also awaiting more information on the seriousness of Mazraoui’s injury, after he had to be substituted following a collision in Morocco’s 2-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win in Lesotho.

Any longer-term damage could leave United with Luke Shaw as their only fit left-back option, so manager Michael Carrick will hope for positive news on that front over the coming days.

Tottenham supporters may also have feared for the worst when defender Micky van de Ven was taken off during the Netherlands’ 2-1 triumph over Serbia on Sunday.

But any fears were somewhat allayed by Xavi’s comments that it is “not a big problem”.

That’s fortunate, because fellow centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke also sustained a foot injury with the Oranje, though that is also thought to only be a minor issue.

Brentford’s Mikkel Damsgaard may not have been as lucky, however.

He rolled his ankle in Denmark’s game against Portugal and is a serious doubt to face Aston Villa on Saturday after De Rød-Hvide boss Brian Riemer revealed: “It is a blow, which has turned out to be a bigger injury.”

Premier League stars rack up the minutes

This was a particularly grueling international break, with teams playing up to four fixtures since the previous set of Premier League matches from 18th-20th September.

That was certainly true for players appearing in the UEFA Nations League, with a significant number of top-flight regulars featuring for every one of the 360 minutes available.

Manchester City defensive duo Rúben Dias and Joško Gvardiol fall into that category, while Fulham had plenty of first teamers who exerted themselves to the maximum in Timothy Castagne, Sander Berge, Joachim Andersen and Shea Charles.

Liverpool’s stars have had a busy few weeks, too. Captain Virgil van Dijk reached 100 caps for the Netherlands after playing in all their games, with Georgian stopper Giorgi Mamardashvilli and Greece’s Kostas Tsimikas both ever-present for their countries in September and October.

Elsewhere, Brentford deserve a mention, on account of goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and Kristoffer Ajer each managing all 360 minutes for Ireland and Norway, respectively.

Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard fell into the same category for the Norwegians, as did Leeds duo Jaka Bijol (Slovenia) and Ethan Ampadu (Wales).

It will be intriguing to see what impact such a strenuous period has on all the aforementioned players when the Premier League resumes this weekend.