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  2. Premier League

Ranked! Which Premier League big-six club was hit hardest by the international break?

Features
By Greg Lea
Published 12 October 2017

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6. Tottenham (38,186 miles)

6. Tottenham (38,186 miles)

Tottenham were the least affected of the Big Six, with 11 of their players racking up a combined distance of over 38,000 miles. The final group stage of World Cup qualification in Asia concluded last month, meaning Son Heung-min didn't have to return to South Korea, so instead played friendlies in Russia and Switzerland. Central defender Davinson Sanchez was therefore the man who travelled furthest, the Colombia international returning to South America for crucial clashes with Paraguay and Peru.

Elsewhere, Jan Vertonghen became Belgium's all-time record appearance-maker, Hugo Lloris kept goal for France in Sofia and Paris, and Harry Winks made his senior England debut in Lithuania.

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5. Chelsea (59,090 miles)

5. Chelsea (59,090 miles)

Chelsea's players travelled 21,000 miles more than Tottenham's, yet they still remain outside the top four of this list. An injury sustained by France's N'Golo Kante in the narrow victory over Bulgaria won't have pleased Antonio Conte, although Eden Hazard came through Belgium's double-header unscathed.

Thibaut Courtois also represented the Red Devils as they beat Gibraltar and Cyprus, while Willian was part of the Brazil squad that faced Bolivia and Chile.

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4. Arsenal (60,434 miles)

4. Arsenal (60,434 miles)

Chile forward Alexis Sanchez will not have been pleased with club team-mate and Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina, whose mistake against Peru helped knock the Chileans out of South American qualification. There was more bad news in Germany as Shkodran Mustafi injured his hamstring against Azerbaijan, but Mesut Ozil was left out of Joachim Low's squad in his bid to return to full fitness.

Elsewhere, Sead Kolasinac, Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey all played in Europe, with Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny taking part in African qualifiers for Nigeria and Egypt respectively.

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3. Manchester United (64,125 miles)

3. Manchester United (64,125 miles)

Of the 80 players from the big six clubs who played for their countries, no one covered more miles than Ecuador's Antonio Valencia. Back-up goalkeeper Sergio Romero also made the long trip to South America, while Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both broke the 5,000-mile barrier as they represented Ivory Coast and Armenia respectively.

Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini didn't have as far to go, but the injury he sustained while playing for the other Red Devils means he will miss Saturday's derby against Liverpool. David de Gea, Daley Blind, Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku were also among those who remained in Europe.

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2. Liverpool (71,023 miles)

2. Liverpool (71,023 miles)

Mohamed Salah was responsible for one of the best moments of the international weekend, scoring a late penalty against Congo to book Egypt's place in Russia next summer – but elsewhere in Africa, Sadio Mane picked up an injury while representing Senegal.

Brazilian duo Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho each clocked up 13,584 miles as the Seleção drew with Bolivia and beat Chile, while Ragnar Klavan, Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and Daniel Sturridge were involved in European qualifiers.

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1. Manchester City (106,873 miles)

1. Manchester City (106,873 miles)

At 106,873 miles, Manchester City were the most disadvantaged by the latest international break. Interestingly, the Premier League table-toppers had the same amount of players on duty (15) as Liverpool and only one more than Manchester United and Chelsea, but a mammoth average distance of 7,124 miles per player puts them way out in first place.

John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker were part of the England group that secured qualification, with Leroy Sane, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and David Silva also involved in action in Europe. The trips to South America for Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Danilo, Claudio Bravo, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi are what will hit City hardest, though.

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Greg Lea
Greg Lea
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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).

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