Our recap of the Gameweek 27 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) action continues with some takeaways from West Ham United v Aston Villa and Newcastle United v Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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IN-FORM WATKINS
Ollie Watkins (£7.3m) cannot stop scoring. The former Brentford man broke the deadlock with a header from Alex Moreno’s (£4.4m) sublime cross in east London, taking his tally to six goals in his last seven Premier League matches. He probably should have had another before the break, too, but fired straight at Alphonse Areola (£4.3m).
Since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup, only Erling Haaland (£12.2m), Marcus Rashford (£7.4m) and Harry Kane (£11.7m) have scored more goals in the competition than Watkins.
Above: Players sorted by goals scored from Gameweek 17 onwards
It’s also worth noting Watkins has scored four in a row away from home, a potentially important factor given that Aston Villa visit Chelsea and Leicester City in Double Gameweek 29.
An appealing home clash against Bournemouth precedes that, so it’s easy to see why he is currently the third most-bought player of Gameweek 28, already earning over 80,000 new FPL owners.
As for Aston Villa, they have found the net in all 13 of their league games under Unai Emery, averaging a very decent 1.6 goals per game. Only Tottenham Hotspur have outperformed their expected goals (xG) by a larger margin in that time, but all in all, the signs are positive under the Spaniard.
Watkins registered four shots in the box at the London Stadium, more than any other Villa player, yet his tally was comfortably beaten by West Ham’s Said Benrahma (£5.5m).
The Algerian netted his penalty and racked up a whopping 10 shots – only Martin Odegaard (£6.9m) has taken more in a single match this season (11 v Bournemouth in Gameweek 26).
“Said [Benrahma] took [the penalty] really well, so I’m pleased. At the start of the season, we missed a few, at Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, so to get a little bit more comfortable with them is good.
Manuel Lanzini has taken them quite a bit for us in European football and Said’s done it here and Lucas Paqueta has done it for us [at Leeds United in January], so we’re getting a bit more comfortable.” – David Moyes
THE GOOD AND BAD OF ALEX MORENO
Alex Moreno produced his second assist in four matches at West Ham, in another lively attacking display.
The number 15 was a constant outlet on the left flank, receiving more passes in the final third (14) than any other Villa player. In addition, he also whipped in five crosses and created three chances.
Above: Aston Villa’s average position map v West Ham in Gameweek 27, featuring Alex Moreno (no 15)
Since making his debut in Gameweek 20, Moreno is averaging 1.83 chances created per 90 minutes. For context, that’s more than Pervis Estupinan (£4.8m), Andrew Robertson (£6.8m) and Luke Shaw (£5.3m) in the same period.
However, he is still acclimatising to Unai Emery’s demands and sometimes struggles defensively. On Sunday, Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) ran him completely ragged in the first half, which resulted in Lucas Digne’s (£4.6m) introduction on 64 minutes, in an attempt to shore things up at the back.
Moreno probably remains the favourite to keep his place against Bournemouth on Saturday, yet the picture is unclear in Double Gameweek 29, when Aston Villa visit Chelsea and Leicester City. Still, if he can nail down a place in this Villa XI, he has huge potential at just £4.4m.
ISAK IMPRESSES
After a run of five games without a win in all competitions, Newcastle returned to winning ways at St James’ Park on Sunday, with Alexander Isak (£6.6m) and substitute Miguel Almiron (£5.4m) on the scoresheet.
The former has now scored four Premier League goals in just 531 minutes this season, with his movement on Sunday stretching Wolves’ backline and giving their defenders a really tough time, especially in the first half.
“I’ve been wanting to play more but it has been giving me a bit of fuel and I’m happy to start today and get three points. I’ve had to be patient but I’ve been working hard. The team have been playing good but we haven’t got the results and today was all about winning. I was happy to have him [Trippier] as my assist-man today. It was a great delivery and a good header too.” – Alexander Isak
As for Kieran Trippier (£6.0m), his assist was his first since Boxing Day, with his creative importance to Eddie Howe’s side summed up by the fact he has created 38 chances from Gameweek 17 onwards. The next best at Newcastle in that period is Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.1m) on nine.
Above: Newcastle players sorted by chances created from Gameweek 17 onwards
However, Trippier later slipped as he tried to clear the ball, resulting in Wolves’ equaliser, which denied Newcastle their first clean sheet since Gameweek 21.
GORDON/SARABIA LATEST
Just a week after appearing in the first XI at Manchester City, Anthony Gordon (£5.1m) is now set for a spell on the sidelines. The ankle injury isn’t thought to be too serious but it will keep him out for at least a couple of weeks, ruling him out of Friday’s trip to The City Ground.
Eddie Howe said:
“It swelled up, we had it scanned. We were hoping that we could get away with it, and he would be all right, but unfortunately not, so he’ll probably miss the next two games. Not sure whether he’ll be back after the international break. We hope so, but not 100% certain.” – Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon
Meanwhile, Wolves’ Pablo Sarabia (£5.5m) also missed out with a “little problem” according to manager Julen Lopetegui.
“Sarabia has had a little problem in the last two days, that is why he stayed in Wolverhampton and he’s not here.” – Julen Lopetegui
