Our reaction to Gameweek 19 continues with this Scout Notes piece on Wednesday’s three matches: Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea v Crystal Palace and Everton v Manchester City.
PEP ON HAALAND + DE BRUYNE
Erling Haaland (£13.9m) missed Manchester City’s 3-1 win at Everton, as the Norwegian continues his recovery from injury.
Pep Guardiola provided an update on his star striker before kick-off.
“Still he’s not with the team. He feels better with his bone but he hasn’t made one training session with us. Unfortunately, December is so congested with so many teams. January is so congested. Hopefully in January he can come back with us.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
We then heard from Guardiola in the aftermath of Wednesday’s win, with the Spaniard offering fresh insight.
“He’s training a lot but not with the team yet. Kevin [De Bruyne] is with the team. Erling not yet but feels better. It’s not a stress or fracture but a question on when the pain will disappear. Hopefully [January]. He has a stress, the bone is fit but painful.
“He’s not like Foden who is small and skinny, Erling is huge so it’s difficult at times. He’ll be fine, and when he is he’ll be back and play. The doctors come every morning and say ‘this player is available and this one is not’. Until then, I create the team and we play games.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
Guardiola also gave an update on Kevin De Bruyne (£10.2m), who has been out since August with a hamstring injury.
“He’s close but he had fatigue. We have to be careful he’s been injured for three months. Like an ACL for six months, if you don’t handle the timings well, you get injured again. The injury was serious but he’s training with us. So positive and he’ll be back soon. I’d love him to play the next game or against Huddersfield but what is important is keeping him fit for a long time, not for one game or another.” – Pep Guardiola on Kevin De Bruyne
In a further blow, John Stones (£5.3m) suffered an ankle injury at Goodison Park, with the City boss confirming it “doesn’t look good” when speaking to Prime Video post-match.
Ruben Dias (£5.5m) missed out through illness, meanwhile.
FODEN INSPIRES
Man City had to come from behind to beat Everton at Goodison Park, with Phil Foden (£7.6m), Julian Alvarez (£6.8m) and Bernardo Silva (£6.4m) on the scoresheet.
Foden and Alvarez were particularly threatening.
Responsible for eight of the champions’ 13 efforts inside the box, they also produced seven key passes.
In the absence of Haaland, it’s clear their “sense of goal” is of huge importance to Pep Guardiola, who played Foden centrally at Goodison Park.
In addition to his goal, the England international also smashed a shot against the post in the latter stages.
“We need without Erling, we need guys close to the box with a sense of goal. We don’t have many. Phil [Foden] and Julian [Alvarez] they have this talent and that’s why Phil is playing more inside now because he has this sense to score goals.” – Pep Guardiola
“I’ve had a good run of games. You know how much I like playing in the middle as well. Long may that continue.” – Phil Foden
HWANG INJURY LATEST
A brace from Hwang Hee-chan (£5.7m) helped Wolves beat Brentford 4-1 on Wednesday.
The South Korean was at his brilliant best, taking his Premier League goal tally for the season to 10, but did not last the first half, having taken a knock in injury time.
However, Gary O’Neil hopes to have him back for Gameweek 20, before he departs for the Asian Cup.
“It’s just a back spasm. He’ll be fine for the Asia Cup, hopefully, we can get him back for our game as well against Everton. It’s a tight turnaround but only a back spasm and he is moving slightly better now than when he came off, so let’s see how he does these next couple days.” – Gary O’Neil on Hwang Hee-chan
Hwang’s forthcoming absence will at least be offset by the return of Pedro Neto (£5.6m), who was on the bench here after a two-month absence.
As for Brentford, Thomas Frank’s side were made to pay for some sloppy defending.
They have now lost six of their last seven top-flight matches but the imminent return of Ivan Toney (£7.9m), who will be available from 17 January, will give them a boost.
“He is getting closer. We had an in-house game the other day and he scored two goals and I looked at him and he looked pretty good. So that would be just like a new signing.” – Thomas Frank on Ivan Toney
NKUNKU’S FIRST START
Christopher Nkunku (£7.4m) started his first game for Chelsea on Wednesday, showing his versatility at Stamford Bridge.
The Frenchman began in a no. 10 role, before being shifted out wide for the final stages of his 70-minute appearance.
Despite a missed chance and some fairly underwhelming stats (one shot/one key pass), there were encouraging signs, with his presence bringing more composure in the final-third.
“Christopher Nkunku is still far away from his best. He needs time. But he is a very intelligent player who can connect things. Today we missed a playmaker in Palmer. Nkunku can do it but he’s a more offensive player who wants to go forward and have space in between the lines. Sometimes we missed [this]. But the combinations with Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson, they were good.” – Mauricio Pochettino
Elsewhere, Malo Gusto (£4.1m) had a stormer and claimed the assist for Mykhailo Mudryk’s (£6.3m) opener.
In the last two Gameweeks, he’s created four chances for his team-mates and faces Luton Town and Fulham next, so should pick up a bit of interest.
For all their endeavour, Crystal Palace fell to yet another defeat.
They are now without a win since Gameweek 11 and sit just three points above the relegation zone.
However, Eberechi Eze (£6.0m) was back in the starting XI here and Michael Olise’s (£5.8m) razor-sharp finish means he has produced attacking returns in three successive Gameweeks, so there are positives to take.
“They were two very important players for us last year. We had threat with those players with their individual skill. When those players disappear, it puts a big burden on everybody else. There’s no doubt going forward they will help us do better over the next few weeks.” – Roy Hodgson on Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise
