Let's start with the obvious news that we know all about: Christian Eriksen has navigated a fiendish round of fixtures unharmed and will be fit to face Ireland next Saturday. Irish fans had paid slightly more attention than normal to Spurs' recent run of fixtures, but Denmark's wizard has survived games with Liverpool, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and a couple of jousts with Real Madrid unscathed.
But while Eriksen should be fine for the Danes, they do have a couple of injury worries to contend with following the conclusion of club football ahead of the playoff. They are already without regular defender Riza Durmisi of Real Betis, omitted from the squad with a hamstring injury.
Their defensive options are further depleted with the news that Brentford's Henrik Dalsgaard will probably be unfit to play as a result of a heel injury. His club and international teammate Andreas Bjelland, meanwhile, (stop sniggering down the back) could also be in doubt for the first leg, having been substituted against Leeds on Saturday with a nasty gash (we told you to stop sniggering). Brentford coach Dean Smith is more optimistic of Bjelland's being fit to face Ireland. Their being available may be no bad thing for Ireland, judging by the damage wrought upon them by Seani Maguire recently. Further to that, Simon Kjaer of Sevilla departed their clash with Barcelona with twenty minutes to go amid fears he has hurt his hamstring.
Dalsgaard and Kjaer started the final qualifier against Romania, meaning that Denmark could miss three-quarters of their first-choice defence against Ireland.
Denmark are also likely to be without the devilish Kasper Dolberg of Ajax, who has only been placed on standby for the playoffs. The 20-year-old has struggled to recapture the form of last season.
Andreas Christensen played ninety minutes for Chelsea against Manchester United this afternoon, and his performance was hailed afterward by Antonio Conte.
Kasper Schmeichel came through Leicester's game with Stoke unscathed, but even if we were to miss out, Huddersfield's Jonas Lossl proved himself to be an able deputy with a stunning performance against West Brom, with a point-blank save from James McClean among the highlights of his Match of the Day showreel.
Other notable players who came through the weekend's games unscathed were Copenhagen midfielder William Kvist, Thomas Delaney (who played ninety minutes for Werder Bremen against Eintracht Frankfurt), RB Leipzig forward Yussuf Poulsen (among the goals in a win against Hannover) and Pione Sisto of Celta Vigo.
And finally, we turn to Lord Nicklas Bendtner. Not that he has ever suffered from a lack of confidence, but he has been boosted over the weekend by the fact that his Rosenborg side became Norwegian champions, in spite of a 2-1 defeat on Friday night.
