Henry Onyekuru (Galatasaray)
The Nigerian forward has missed the last couple of games through injury, but is back in light training ahead of a game against Yeni Malatyaspor this weekend. Onyekuru hasn’t been in the best form recently for his club, but fingers crossed he’ll come back better this Sunday.
Nikola Vlasic (CSKA Moscow)
Vlasic returned from the international break without even a stutter, putting in another goalscoring and man of the match performance against Anzhi.
He didn’t have as much luck in the Champions League, however, as his side were on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline, at the hands of Roma. Vlasic still saw plenty of the ball and didn’t have a bad game individually, making 36 passes with 85% accuracy, but only won 4 of his 11 duels. His 4 attempts at a dribble were all successful, though.
Kevin Mirallas (Fiorentina)
Mirallas came off the bench for the final 20 minutes of La Viola’s 1-1 draw with Cagliari, but didn’t manage to affect the game in that time.
Sandro Ramirez (Real Sociedad)
Sandro started up front for Real Sociedad against Girona and had a good game in his 68 minutes on the pitch before being replaced by Willian Jose, a player linked with Everton last summer. Despite being unable to score, Sandro completed all of his 17 passes and got stuck in as much as he could on his big chance.
Matthew Pennington (Ipswich Town)
Pennington was deployed at right-back in his team’s 0-2 defeat to Queens Park Rangers, and made a few clearances but didn’t contribute too much going forward, and it was evident that he is primarily used at centre-back. He was strong defensively when needed though, despite being unable to prevent the two goals.
Ipswich lost again by the same scoreline against table-toppers Leeds United, whom Pennington played on loan for last season. He looked more comfortable at centre-back, and was arguably the best of a pretty average bunch in terms of Ipswich performances. He is always strong in the challenge, and won most of his duels.
Luke Garbutt (Oxford United)
Garbutt has missed the last couple of games with illness, but hopefully will be back for weekend’s game with Shrewsbury Town after putting in some good performances so far this season.
Antonee Robinson and Callum Connolly (Wigan Athletic)
Antonee Robinson has been rested for the last couple of Wigan games after returning from international duty, with centre-back Dan Burn deputising for him but not offering as much going forward as Robinson usually does, flying up and down the flanks.
Connolly was an 87th minute substitute in Wigan’s 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, but started on the right of midfield for their 2-1 defeat at Millwall. He had a 69% passing accuracy of 16 attempted passes, and won 6 of his 14 duels.
Ashley Williams and Cuco Martina (Stoke City)
Cuco Martina was beaten down his side for the only goal of the game in a 0-1 defeat to Birmingham as he played right-back, but was determined to get forward and help his team get on the front foot throughout. Williams received a booking in the game and made a couple of errors, but was relatively solid alongside Bruno Martins Indi.
Martina played 82 minutes of his side’s 1-1 draw with Sheffield United in midweek, winning several tackles and duels but looking rather uncomfortable at times and didn’t offer much going forward, before being substituted for Tom Edwards. Williams had a challenging evening up against a physical Blades front two of Leon Clarke and David McGoldrick, but responded well and played a decent game.
Muhamed Besic (Middlesbrough)
Besic had an excellent game in last weekend’s 1-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday, bagging a goal and an assist as well as adding plenty of tenacity to Boro’s midfield. He saw plenty of the ball, with a 93% passing accuracy of 44 passes, five out of six long balls completed, six shots and six of his eight duels won. A steely showing in midfield.
The Bosnian kept his place for the 0-0 draw with Rotherham, and put in a similarly fiery performance, with some great long balls and dribbles too. Added a touch of class to Tony Pulis’ side, and appears very much back on his game.
Yannick Bolasie (Aston Villa)
Bolasie came on for the last 20 minutes of Villa’s 1-0 win against Swansea, nearly providing Tammy Abraham with an assist for a second goal hadn’t the striker missed the chance. Another good impact-sub performance from the winger.
The Congolese was left out of the squad against Norwich City, but is expected to come back in against QPR this weekend with Albert Adomah missing out due to a hamstring injury.
Joe Williams (Bolton Wanderers)
Williams played just over an hour in midfield against Rotherham last weekend, and still looks a little rough around the edges but there is definitely a player in there. A few passes went astray but he looked solid defensively, despite not having the best shot on him at the moment. A work in progress.
The midfielder played the full 90 minutes of his side’s 0-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest in midweek and didn’t have the best of games again, and is enduring a tough run of form. Hopefully he’ll come out of it a better player, though!
– Tom
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