A mostly disastrous afternoon of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) action played out on Saturday.
The headlines from the day’s three fixtures, including one or two injury scares, are discussed here.
FANTASY FARCE 2
The opening day of Double Gameweek 28 took some beating for sheer awfulness but Gameweek 29 came close to matching it. And this time, unlike in the midweek thriller at the Vitality Stadium, there was no second bite of the cherry.
There were some success stories. Rodrigo Muniz (£4.6m) hit a brace and top-scored with 13 points. Free Hit punts like Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.7m), Chris Wood (£4.8m) and David Datro Fofana (£5.0m) also delivered attacking returns.
But there were blanks from anyone owned by over 20% of managers in the top 100k. One of the more popular defensive selections, Sergio Reguilon (£4.4m), getting sent off after just seven minutes set the tone. It never recovered from there.
The cherry on the excrement was Tottenham Hotspur choosing the day that many managers had tripled up on them to blank. They had scored in 39 consecutive Premier League matches before Saturday.
DOUGHTY INJURY NEWS
The widely owned Alfie Doughty (£4.7m) getting hooked at half-time was another blow. A hamstring strain was cited as the reason, with Luton boss Rob Edwards hopeful that neither he nor Perry Ruddock Mpanzu (£4.7m) – who had to be taken off in the second half – was seriously injured.
“Hopefully these two today are not going to be too bad.” – Rob Edwards on the latest two injuries to hit Luton
The Hatters were lively early on in the match against Nottingham Forest but energy levels soon dipped. This was no surprise, really, given that they’d played twice already this week and had a lengthy injury list, meaning that Edwards couldn’t freshen things up much.
Issa Kabore (£4.0m) even had to be used at centre-half, such was the availability crisis in defence.
The 0% owned Luke Berry‘s (£4.6m) late goal came out of nowhere: until that point, Luton had mustered only 0.35 xG and precisely zero big chances.
The international break allows the Luton troops to recharge but Edwards said after full-time that only Gabriel Osho (£4.4m) and Albert Sambi Lokonga (£4.9m) would be anywhere near returning come Gameweek 30, so he’s not going to have too many extra options.
Not that the Hatters are going to be top of many Fantasy managers’ shopping lists anyway with the following run:
It’s now four months since they last failed to score, however, so clean sheets for Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are far from being a given.
FOREST’S STRIKER CONCERNS
Forest, like Luton, won’t have another Double Gameweek this season. While their remaining fixtures are better on paper, the lack of a ‘double’ is detrimental to their appeal. Gameweek 29 may have been the last time many of us owned a Forest player this season.
The rationale behind the Anthony Elanga (£5.1m) selection was sound: he was literally inches from a return on two occasions. A chance he created for Divock Origi (£5.0m) and a shot of his own were both cleared off the line.
Only Messrs Haaland and Salah have been directly involved in more big chances than Elanga (10) over their last six matches.
The only Forest player to convert a big chance on Saturday was Chris Wood, who bagged his ninth goal of 2023/24. One more and he’ll have reached double figures for goals in five of the last seven seasons, mostly done while representing Premier League strugglers.
No forward has a better shot-to-goal conversion rate this season, a figure (37.5%) that we rarely see sustained over the course of a year. But here we are in March.
He did have to be taken off at Kenilworth Road, however, so further word is awaited on him.
“He has to be assessed. He was feeling something, so a precaution. He wanted to go out but let’s see how he is. Hopefully, it’s nothing.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Chris Wood
There was a further blow when it was revealed that Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.3m) could be out for two to five weeks.
At the other end, Forest conceded yet another goal from a set piece. They have the worst record in the division for doing so this season.
MUNIZ SUBSTITUTION PRECAUTIONARY
Yet another enforced change on Saturday saw two-goal Rodrigo Muniz taken off at Craven Cottage.
Muniz was withdrawn shortly after taking a knock while scoring Fulham’s third and final strike.
But boss Marco Silva said that the forward was taken off more as a precaution.
“He was feeling a little tired and feeling his hamstring a little, so it was not a time for us to take risks. But what a performance again from him.” – Marco Silva on Rodrigo Muniz, via West London Sport
Raul Jimenez (£5.0m) returned from injury to take Muniz’s place, with Armando Broja (£4.9m) left out of the squad altogether.
Muniz now has seven goals in as many starts since his current run in the side began.
No forward has had more shots in the box in that time:
And things could get even better in the coming weeks, with Sheffield United, Forest and a leaky Newcastle United up next.
Longer term, the main issue with Muniz is that he has bad fixtures in Gameweeks 34 and 37, the ‘doubles’ when many Fantasy managers will be using a Bench Boost. Fulham themselves have no more Double Gameweeks to come.
A more general caveat with the Cottagers is that three of their next four matches are on the road, and they rank 18th for away results this season. Then again, they face four strugglers and no ‘big six’ side on their travels in the run-in.
Impressive full-backs Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) and Timothy Castagne (£4.5m) each delivered assists; Robinson now has six of them.
In fact, Robinson is ahead of all other sub-£5.0m defenders this season – even Doughty – for Fantasy returns (13 – seven clean sheets and six assists).
Bernd Leno (£4.8m) can’t be beaten by any other goalkeeper for points, either.
RICHARLISON RETURNS
“This is the first game when probably, especially in the second half, I didn’t feel it was there today and that was the disappointing thing for us. If we don’t hit those levels then it’s very hard for us to do all the other things we’ve been good at.” – Ange Postecoglou
We’re chalking this horror show down as a blip for Spurs, given that it was only a week ago that they’d dismantled Aston Villa.
Even then, they had a few good openings to score at Craven Cottage: Son Heung-min (£10.1m) missed with a chance that he’d often bury, while Timo Werner (£6.3m) somehow prodded wide from point-blank range.
What this defeat might do is fast-track Richarlison‘s (£6.9m) return to the starting XI. He was on the bench here after a return from injury.
Had the Lilywhites won handsomely again, we might have seen Brennan Johnson (£5.8m) keep his place for the plum-looking home fixture against Luton Town in Gameweek 30. After a defeat like this, there’s more chance of a change or two.
Radu Dragusin (£4.2m) struggled on his full debut but it’d be wrong to suggest that this defeat rested on his shoulders. Spurs had only kept two clean sheets in their last 18 fixtures anyway.
FOFANA + REGUILON RED FLAGGED
Sergio Reguilon’s red, for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, means he’ll miss Gameweek 30. It’s only a one-match ban, at least.
Someone who will also be absent in that Gameweek is Burnley’s on-loan striker David Datro Fofana, who is ineligible to face parent club Chelsea.
The Clarets will at least have the fit-again Lyle Foster (£4.7m) to call on, after his surprise appearance off the bench on Saturday.
Fofana now has five attacking returns in his eight runouts in a Burnley shirt, a very decent contribution in a struggling side. He had wasted two excellent first-half chances against the Bees before finishing coolly after the break.
Vincent Kompany’s outfit only just hung on to three points despite playing the majority of the game with a man extra, so there’s a big asterisk next to this rare win.
Jacob Bruun Larsen (£4.8m) was the scorer of the Burnley penalty that Reguilon conceded, with Vitinho (£4.4m) – again playing ‘out of position’ on the right wing – claiming the assist.
One other team news line of note is that Kompany changed his goalkeeper for the first time this season, with the cheaper Ari Muric (£4.3m) getting the nod.
MBEUMO BACK ON THE RADAR
And a big story from the Brentford camp was the return of Bryan Mbeumo (£6.7m), who returned from three months out with an injury as a substitute here.
The winger might have a say in our seasons yet, especially from Gameweek 33 onwards.
Thomas Frank may be more inclined to move to a back four now that Mbeumo is available, with him and Yoane Wissa (£5.7m) flanking Ivan Toney (£8.2m) in a 4-3-3. That would maybe mean a bit less attacking freedom for Reguilon, who could also cede set plays to Mbeumo.
Toney and Wissa both had excellent chances to score despite the numerical disadvantage, underscoring the belief that there are plenty of goals – if not clean sheets – in this Brentford side.
