The past week had no goals, but there’s still plenty to catch up on from the Loan Army, so let’s get started.
England
Premier League
Danny Drinkwater made his long-awaited(?) Burnley debut in the Clarets’ midweek defeat at home to Manchester City. It was his first senior competitive league start since March 2018, and just his second in any competition, so when manager Sean Dyche explained his absence at the weekend against Tottenham was due to a lack of match fitness, it was entirely believable.
Championship
Conor Gallagher was back from suspension for Charlton’s trip to Middlesbrough, where he picked up a yellow card in a 1-0 defeat.
Jake Clarke-Salter’s recent run in the Birmingham team came to a premature and untimely end after he left their 3-2 win over Matt Miazga’s Reading with an injury after just 17 minutes. An awkward fall left him nursing an arm or shoulder injury that will almost certainly sideline him for a while to come. Miazga was replaced at half time in a tactical change rued by quite a few Reading supporters come full time.
Izzy Brown’s recent hamstring injury will keep him out for ten weeks, a tremendously disappointing development in what was, until then, one of the feel-good stories of the Loan Army season. In better news, Dujon Sterling claimed an assist as Wigan lost 2-1 against a Brown-less Luton Town, who nonetheless prevailed 2-1.
Trevoh Chalobah missed Huddersfield’s defeat to Leeds through suspension.
League One
Richard Nartey played every second of a pair of Burton Albion fixtures this week, a draw with Southend and a defeat to Lincoln, but there was no action for Luke McCormick or Jacob Maddox, who will both be looking towards the January transfer window and the prospect of fresh opportunities elsewhere.
League Two
Josh Grant, now a holding midfielder, played from start to finish as Plymouth lost 1-0 to Cambridge United.
Italy
Mario Pašalić helped Atalanta to a 3-2 win against Verona with a solid ninety minutes in central midfield.
Davide Zappacosta is out for the season.
Spain
Kenedy was not in Getafe’s squad for their win at Eibar on Sunday, while Baba Rahman was in Mallorca’s for their defeat at Barcelona but didn’t make the matchday selection after returning from his latest injury absence.
Germany
Lewis Baker played 67 minutes as Fortuna Dusseldorf lost 5-0 at Dortmund, his first Bundesliga start in two months, but Ethan Ampadu wasn’t involved as Leipzig beat Hoffenheim.
France
Two games, two wins, two ninety minutes for Tiémoué Bakayoko this week as Monaco beat Toulouse and Amiens to jump into the top half of Ligue 1.
Netherlands
Vitesse drew 0-0 against Feyenoord without Jamal Blackman or Charly Musonda, while Juan Castillo goes head-to-head with Iké Ugbo as Jong Ajax host Roda in the Eerste Divisie.
Portugal
Rio Ave host Gil Vicente on Monday night, but Lucas Piazon hasn’t played in the league since September 21st, so don’t pin your hopes on his involvement.
Scotland
Nathan Baxter collected his first win as a Ross County played in midweek with a 2-1 win against Hibernian at Dingwall (despite being at fault for the goal conceded), then had the weekend off due to the Rangers vs Celtic League Cup Final.
Turkey
Victor Moses was absent as Fenerbahce beat Genclerbirligi 5-2 on Friday night after picking up an injury during his twelve minutes of action in a 4-0 cup win against Istanbulspor in midweek.
Hungary
Danilo Pantic played 77 minutes in MOL Fehervar’s midweek cup win away to Szeged, but wasn’t involved as they lost to Paksi in the league on Saturday.
Brazil
Nathan remains out through injury.
Statistics
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