There was joy for owners of popular Fantasy Premier League (FPL) defenders in two of Tuesday’s Premier League fixtures, which we dissect here.
Arsenal v Newcastle United and Manchester United v Bournemouth are the focus of our latest Scout Notes piece.
The numbers you see in this article are taken from our Premium Members Area, where you can access Opta player and team data for every single Premier League fixture.
DIVISION’S BEST DEFENCES SHINE AGAIN
Sometimes there’s lots to discuss from a particular game in our Scout Notes articles, sometimes there’s not as much. Arsenal v Newcastle United probably fell into the latter camp.
In a nutshell: the two statistically best defences in the division cancelled each other out, with Newcastle’s rearguard display in particular underscoring how far they’ve come in the last 12 months.
This shut-out was their 10th of the season and we’ve not yet reached the halfway stage. A reminder that you can still get Sven Botman (£4.4m) for the same money as Chris Mepham (£4.4m) and Lyanco (£4.4m)…
This was the first Premier League match this season that Arsenal didn’t have a single Opta-defined ‘big chance’. It was also their lowest expected goals (xG) total (1.12) at home in 2022/23, the first time they’d failed to score and the first time they’d dropped points at the Emirates.
There were two optimistic penalty shouts from the hosts and a couple of headers from corners that drifted narrowly wide but Nick Pope‘s (£5.3m) save from Eddie Nketiah‘s (£6.5m) 86th-minute effort was the only time he was really stretched, not that it stopped the Magpies goalkeeper from claiming maximum bonus.
“I think it was a very, very good defensive display. A very good mentality from the group, I think you saw real teamwork today. Arsenal are very, very good, they pose you different problems, they really stretch you and we knew defensively we needed to be rock solid.
“They’re a top side and I think we did really well in the second half when pressure grew.
“Nick (Pope) had one save to make, apart from that it was just pressure. I was just a little bit disappointed we couldn’t pose more of a threat.
“I thought we were resilient, dogged and brilliantly defended all areas of the pitch collectively. Our defensive performances have been very good and that’s full credit to everyone.” – Eddie Howe
Credit goes to Arsenal’s defence, too, who trail only the Magpies for clean sheets in 2022/23 (eight). Miguel Almiron (£5.9m) and Callum Wilson (£7.2m) were almost completely nullified, with one action at the end of the first half – Fabian Schar‘s (£5.0m) flick and Joelinton‘s (£5.9m) instinctive close-range header – accounting for over half of the visitors’ xG.
“I’m really proud. The way we played, the way we dominated the game. The approach that we had from the beginning. We lacked that spark in the final third to find the opening to find the right moment an extra pass and a little bit of finishing quality but we had a lot of situations in and around the box to do better. There were two scandalous penalties.” – Mikel Arteta
Blanks for Messrs Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli and Almiron, then, but easier tests await for these attacking assets in Gameweek 20, with a leaky Spurs backline up next for the Gunners and a Fulham side with the division’s worst expected goals conceded (xGC) tally travelling north to face Newcastle.
ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET FOR UNITED
Level on clean sheets with Arsenal this season are Manchester United, who have now registered six shut-outs in nine Gameweeks.
They’re top four material for most of the key defensive metrics during that time, helped no end by Casemiro‘s (£4.9m) arrival – which we’ve previously written about at length – and, more recently, some excellent fixtures.
David de Gea (£4.9m) was busier than usual against the Cherries, making some fine stops from Jaidon Anthony (£5.2m) and Philip Billing (£5.2m), but there is perhaps some mitigation given that Erik ten Hag rotated his side and went without three-quarters of his first-choice back four.
Luke Shaw (£5.0m) has certainly prospered since the restart, racking up over half of his season’s FPL points total in the last three Gameweeks. He was back at left-back for this game, slotting home his first league goal since March 2021 before ‘assisting the assister’ for Marcus Rashford’s (£7.0m) late tap-in.
For those FPL bosses who don’t own Shaw, then he might not be a priority transfer with Manchester City and Arsenal up next – unless a Double Gameweek 20 materialises for United, of course.
He looks like a better longer-term purchase from Gameweek 22 onwards (see above) but such is his price climb – he looks set to rise at least once before Gameweek 20 – that the fit-again Diogo Dalot (£4.7m) might instead become more appealing once again, if and when he regains his place.
Dalot was back on the bench against Bournemouth after recovering from a hamstring injury picked up in Qatar, emerging as a substitute midway through the second half.
“I like these problems. He is doing really well, Aaron [Wan-Bissaka], in the last few games. Defending really consistently. He is also reliable in offence. He has a part in it, he contributes well. It’s a nice fight in the squad but also, we have a lot of games to cover, so we need them all.” – Erik ten Hag on the battle for right-back
Rashford and Anthony Martial (£6.8m) had quieter evenings up top but the returns went with the form book: the former converted from close range to continue his purple patch, the latter spurned a ‘big chance’ with his head for the second game running.
“Yes, I think he will be good. He will be fine. He continued the game. I hope he will recover overnight and be fresh for Friday.” – Erik ten Hag on Anthony Martial’s substitution after the Frenchman had picked up an earlier knock
Ten Hag didn’t give much away when discussing Antony‘s (£7.4m) absence, saying only that “he is injured”.
