Wednesday 14 October 2015 15:58, UK
Which Premier League players were on-form for their countries during the international break?
Here WhoScored.com pick out the top-performing players according to their statistical analysis...
We start with England, who secured the only 100 per cent record in qualifying with comfortable victories over Estonia and Lithuania. The Three Lions final home game of the campaign saw Ross Barkley take centre stage at Wembley, with the Everton youngster continuing his fine start to the domestic season with the WhoScored man of the match award. A rating of 8.92 came courtesy of a number of neat touches, with the 21-year old completing five dribbles and no player making more passes into the final third (37). The most telling among them saw Barkley lay on a sublime assist to find the run of Theo Walcott for the game's opening goal.
Raheem Sterling put the result beyond doubt in the second half and he too was in fine form, likely to now be needed to step up at club level following injuries to the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero over the international break. The City winger earned a rating of 8.91 against Estonia, completing a game-high of 8 dribbles to accompany only his second international goal.
In the game against Lithuania it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who gained WhoScored.com's man of the match award with a rating of 9.30. He will have impressed Roy Hodgson on Monday having endured a tough start to the season from an individual perspective with Arsenal, scoring England's third goal of the game in Vilnius having also made 3 tackles and completed 7 dribbles in a tricky game on an artificial pitch.
The second highest rating over the international break was awarded to Oxlade-Chamberlain's Arsenal club mate Santi Cazorla, who scored twice in a 4-0 win over Luxembourg for Spain. The pint-sized playmaker also hit the woodwork in a frustrating first half for the hosts, mustering six shots at goal in total and creating four chances for his La Roja teammates.
In the same game Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas also enjoyed a little light relief from a troubling start to the season with the Blues, registering the assist for the first of substitute Paco Alcacer's brace. The 28-year old ran the show from midfield, having more touches than any other player on the pitch (128) and creating a game-high of seven chances for a rating of 8.95. A missed penalty in the following game against Ukraine - his fourth consecutive failure from the spot in regular time for Spain - meant little in the end, though how it will affect his confidence upon his return to London remains to be seen.
The man who ensured that Fabregas' miss from 12-yards went unpunished on Monday night was David de Gea, who certainly strengthened his claim for the number one spot ahead of stalwart Iker Casillas against Ukraine. The United stopper was at his imperious best to keep the hosts at bay, with a WhoScored man of the match rating of 9.15 and 10 saves highlighting just how vital he was to ultimately denying Ukraine automatic qualification to Euro 2016.
Meanwhile, joining fellow Gunners Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cazorla among those to excel over the past week were Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud.
The former was disappointing in Germany's shock defeat to Ireland last Thursday but instrumental in a narrow win over Georgia during what has been a concerning period for Joachim Loew's side. Ozil picked up the WhoScored man of the match award on Sunday with a rating of 8.78 having registered the assist for Max Kruse's late match winner, creating a massive 10 chances in total - one of which was a sumptuous flicked through ball that Marco Reus failed to convert.
Giroud, meanwhile, was given the chance to prove his worth in the absence of the injured Karim Benzema in a friendly with Denmark on the same night and certainly did just that. The striker has had a difficult time of late, losing his place at Arsenal to Theo Walcott, but put his woes aside to score two goals in as many minutes for France in a 2-1 win. The first was assisted by United youngster Anthony Martial - his second assist over the international break - and while neither goal will live long in the memory, Giroud hit the target with all five of his shots at goal for a man of the match rating of 8.64.
Elsewhere for Les Bleus there was a return to the international fore from Yohan Cabaye in their opening friendly with Armenia last Thursday. The Palace midfielder scored the second goal in a 4-0 rout for Didier Deschamps' side, with his decision to seek first team football away from the riches of PSG being rewarded. The 29-year old picked up a rating of 8.39 from WhoScored.com, with no player managing more interceptions (7) on the night despite Cabaye being withdrawn on 76 minutes - also holding the record for the same statistic in the Premier League thus far this season, with 30.
Concluding the top 10 here is another Premier League middle-man, with Norwich's Norway international Alex Tettey securing the WhoScored man of the match award against Italy despite a 2-1 defeat. The 29-year old gave the visitors an early advantage on Tuesday night having also opened the scoring three days earlier against Malta - only his second and third international goals - picking up a rating of 8.58 against the Azzurri having netted with his only shot at goal, completed three dribbles and six interceptions as the Scandinavians narrowly missed out on automatic qualification.
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings. You can follow all the scores, statistics, live player and team ratings with their free app
