With another Gameweek hurtling into view, we’ll be rattling through the Scout Notes from Saturday.
It was a record-setting day in terms of goals scored in a single matchday this season, with just one clean sheet recorded.
But it was another damaging afternoon on the injury front, with some key names now flagged.
We begin with the matches at Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Chelsea.
WATKINS INJURY LATEST
Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) will have a scan on a hamstring injury after lasting only 45 minutes of Aston Villa’s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The striker didn’t seem to show any signs of discomfort in the first half on Saturday night but failed to emerge after the interval.
“Maybe hamstring. Hopefully, not a big injury. I think tomorrow we’ll check him and [hopefully] he’s not out for a long time.” – Unai Emery on Ollie Watkins, to AVFC TV
“He told us he could play on but the doctor said not to take any risks. We will scan him tomorrow morning and hopefully it will not show a lot, but I don’t know.” – Unai Emery on Ollie Watkins, in his press conference, via the Birmingham Mail
Already on the chopping block for some Fantasy managers given the lack of a ‘double’ for Villa, he’s now the most sold player of Gameweek 31 by some distance.
Even if he’s fit, the following run isn’t the greatest anyway:
GUSTO HOBBLES OFF
Malo Gusto (£4.3m) was a key target for Gameweek 30 Wildcarders. He was, in fact, the most-bought defender over the international break.
Will he be fit for Chelsea’s two doubles in a month’s time, though?
The right-back was clutching his hamstring in the closing stages of Saturday’s draw with Burnley, being replaced soon after.
Post-match interviews failed to yield any update, however. Mauricio Pochettino instead had to bat away questions about how Chelsea twice surrendered leads against the 10-man Clarets.
There’s a real danger we won’t hear anything more on Gusto before Tuesday’s Gameweek 31 deadline. The Blues don’t face Manchester United until Thursday, so Pochettino’s press conference may be on Wednesday.
Gusto’s time on the field underscored his appeal. A lot of Chelsea’s attacks had the budget defender at the heart of them: he registered five penalty box touches, five chances created and three shots. Two of his own chances came from in or around the six-yard box.
AREOLA + LASCELLES AMONG FOUR INJURED ON TYNESIDE
It was another costly day on the injury front for Newcastle United, too.
Tino Livramento (£4.1m), Jamaal Lascelles (£3.9m) and Miguel Almiron (£6.0m) all hobbled off, while Fabian Schar (£5.5m) completed the game despite looking uncomfortable late on.
“Jamaal is a knee problem but I don’t know any more than that. Tino, the ball hit his ankle so it’s an ankle twist and Miggy hurt his knee crossing a ball.” – Eddie Howe
If serious (a stretcher was initially called before he tried to battle on), Lascelles’ injury will be a blow for those who brought him in on a Wildcard.
Eddie Howe will hopefully face the media again on Monday to give us further news. If Livramento and Lascelles are out for any great length of time, then Lewis Hall (£4.2m) may finally get his chance as Dan Burn (£4.4m) will be needed at centre-back.
Whether anyone would want a Newcastle defender in FPL is another question. This was another match in which yawning chasms opened up for the opposition. Had West Ham gone for the jugular at 3-1 rather than defend their lead, there could have been further damage.
The same goes for the Hammers, who shipped over four expected goals conceded (xGC). Even discounting the two penalties, that’s still a worrying 2.5 xGC.
Newcastle and West Ham have now conceded more than 50 xG and actual goals this season, putting them in the bottom eight for both stats.
Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham play both these teams over the next three Gameweeks, so think twice about selling attackers from these two clubs.
It remains to be seen if Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) is fit to face either side. The Hammers’ goalkeeper was struggling at the end of the first half, being hooked at the break. A thigh injury has been suggested but we’ve again not seen an update from David Moyes yet.
HOW LONG GORDON IS BANNED FOR
Anthony Gordon (£6.0m) is someone who will definitely miss out in Gameweek 31.
He was dismissed for two bookable offences on Saturday, so will sit out the reunion with old employers Everton. It’s only a one-game ban, though.
There was a bit of confusion about how his two bookings affected his overall yellow card count. Gordon was on eight before the game, and that would have risen to nine had he not been dismissed.
But as his two cautions contributed to a sending off, he remains on eight in the yellow card table.
Players getting booked on 10 occasions before their team’s 32nd league fixture will be banned for two league matches.
HOME AND AWAY
Gordon and Jarrod Bowen (£7.9m) maintained their good home and away records respectively.
The Newcastle winger’s treble of assists means that he has now delivered more attacking returns on his own soil (17) than any other Premier League player this season.
Bowen, meanwhile, is now on eight goals and four assists in 14 away starts.
The West Ham attacker inadvertently teed up Mohammed Kudus (£6.8m) for West Ham’s second strike on Saturday, with Kudus returning the favour later.
Gordon won both of Alexander Isak‘s (£7.6m) penalties, also supplying the assist for Harvey Barnes’ (£6.2m) winner.
Isak, who now averages more points per match (5.2) than all forwards bar Watkins and Erling Haaland (£14.3m), and Gordon were already key Fantasy targets for managers looking towards Double Gameweek 37.
Could two-goal Barnes make a late beeline for our teams? He’s certainly looking good for a start in Gameweek 31, with Gordon out.
The two could be incorporated into the same XI beyond midweek, too, with Gordon switching to the right. An injury to Almiron would further increase that possibility. But don’t forget Jacob Murphy (£4.8m), who has started four of the last five competitive matches on the right flank.
BLUNT WOLVES
The only clean sheet recorded on Saturday was done so by Aston Villa.
But there was plenty of encouragement for owners of Manchester City attackers before their midweek clash with the Villans. The lack of an available holding midfielder is an ongoing concern for Unai Emery, while Alex Moreno (£5.2m) is having a bit of a stinker of late.
It was Wolves’ profligacy that was mostly to thank for Villa’s shutout. This is a recurring theme. With injury depriving Gary O’Neil of key attackers against Brentford and Newcastle United, they drew a blank. Here, once more, they carved out chances without success.
Wolves fans were again treated to the sight of Mario Lemina (£4.9m) in an advanced role, highlighting the extent of their issues. Matheus Cunha (£5.5m) is at least back in training.
“If you put Matheus Cunha, Pedro Neto, Channy and Bellegarde into some of those attacking situations, I’m sure we start to turn some of the shots and xG into actual goals.” – Gary O’Neil, via the Express and Star
Rayan Ait–Nouri (£4.6m) was culpable of the biggest miss, although the fact that he was able to find himself six yards out is hopefully promising for future ‘xPoints’.
O’Neil’s words after the game are worth paying attention to, however, with another game on Tuesday.
“Rayan played two 90s for Algeria in the week and I thought he didn’t look quite as sharp as he has done. He looked tired.” – Gary O’Neil, via the Express and Star
ANOTHER BLUE DAY FOR CHELSEA
The issue with targeting Chelsea players for their future doubles is that they’re a bit… mid-table. Not comically bad, but not anywhere near the elite levels of Arsenal et al. Just average.
Cole Palmer (£5.8m) is anything but, and you’d wonder where the Blues would be without him. He added another two goals to his tally on Saturday, one from the spot.
For weeks now, we’ve been writing about how it’s him, Gusto (if fit) and not much else for those as yet unannounced Double Gameweeks.
In this season where clean sheets have been in short supply throughout the division, Djorde Petrovic (£4.6m) might be as good as any for the run-in just due to his sheer number of games. Two clean sheets in 21 matches is otherwise not a good advert for the Blues’ backline, nor is conceding twice to 10-man Burnley.
Petrovic shares the blame for the Clarets’ second equaliser but he made some decent stops before that, while he also saw his bar rattled late on. We repeat: this was against a Burnley side who had a man sent off after 40 minutes.
The hosts did rack up 33 shots of their own, in fairness, Palmer having nine of them. No one else really leaps out from the Blues’ attack, though. Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m) has looked a lot better of late, albeit more for his ability to bring others into the game. He is also stranded on nine cautions, and won’t be in the clear till Gameweek 35. Elsewhere, it’s mostly players impressing in fits and starts before retreating to mediocrity. Mykhailo Mudryk (£6.3m), who caught the eye against the Clarets, is the dictionary definition of this.
