We continue our Gameweek 31 Scout Notes by summarising the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Wednesday’s matches.
They were: Arsenal v Luton Town, Brentford v Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City v Aston Villa.
The numbers and graphics you see in this article come from our Premium Members Area. Here, you can access Opta player and team data from every single Premier League fixture.
Victories for Arsenal and Man City keep the title race hot ahead of Liverpool’s Thursday match. But the on-pitch action was fairly uneventful in FPL, thanks to some high-profile team news. Time to get those autosubs ready!
SAKA ABSENT
Despite Mikel Arteta’s press conference quote that Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) was “fine” but a possible non-starter, things went even further when the line-ups were revealed. FPL’s highest-scoring midfielder (until this night) didn’t make the squad at all.
“He had to come off against Manchester City three days ago, he was feeling something. He hasn’t been able to do everything that we needed to give him the chance to start the game. So we have decided not to play him.” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka
In the end, the Gunners had no need for him. Replacement Reiss Nelson (£4.8m) forced Daiki Hashioka (£4.0m) into an own goal to make it 2-0, after Martin Odegaard (£8.5m) opened proceedings. Well done to those Fantasy Challenge managers who reacted to the Saka news by bringing in the Norwegian.
Additionally, a clean sheet brought in the points for Arsenal’s defence, ending Luton’s streak of netting in 18 consecutive outings.
AN UNUSED HAALAND
One Norwegian who didn’t score was Erling Haaland (£14.3m), as both he and Kevin De Bruyne (£10.4m) were surprisingly moved to the bench. That’s right, ‘Pep Roulette’ is back.
Considering Aston Villa are tough opponents who won the reverse meeting 1-0, second-half appearances were expected from the pair. But thanks to Phil Foden (£8.1m) – more on him below – there was no need for Pep Guardiola to use them, with the champions’ next match being Saturday’s early kick-off.
“In two days at 12.30pm we have another game. I think all the teams are top and have big squads and a good squad, and of course we have it. That is the position we decide today for this line-up, for this tough opening and go for it.” – Pep Guardiola, to TNT Sports
Combined with Saka’s disappearance, the majority of FPL managers are therefore having to go deep into their substitutes bench in order to field 11 men. Using LiveFPL’s stats, we can see which initially sidelined players are this Gameweek’s most frequent autosubs.
FODEN PUNISHES SELLERS
Going this far without mentioning Foden’s hat-trick was tough. It was an unbelievable performance from the maestro, with a 20-point haul allowing him to leapfrog four others and become the new top-scoring midfielder.
14 goals and seven assists have put the 23-year-old on 183 points, making it a traumatic night for the 157,000 managers who’d sold him since Saturday. Not only that, over 1.6 million have ditched Foden throughout the last three Gameweeks.
The three strikes came from just 0.41 expected goals (xG), the first being a free kick that took advantage of a poor Aston Villa wall. After the break, he swept a low, first-time shot past Robin Olsen (£3.9m) and soon rounded off the evening with a long-range stunner.
Such Foden sellers likely have a great-looking midfield crew. However, having seen the England star bag two hat-tricks in nine matches, there’ll surely be a temptation to somehow wedge him back in. Yet it’d be too late.
UPDATE: WATKINS + MARTINEZ
As for Villa, Olsen was one of six line-up changes. We already knew Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) would miss out but goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (£5.3m) withdrew late due to illness. Unai Emery believes both have a chance of making the weekend.
“He [Martinez] was not available as he was not feeling good before the match. I think it’s not important and I think he will recover before Saturday.
“Ollie Watkins, tomorrow we will check him if he’s getting better for Saturday.” – Unai Emery in his press conference
In just three days between the deadlines, FPL’s top forward was sold by a whopping 1.34 million managers. He’ll next be at home to former club Brentford, fresh from their clean sheet.
TONEY + JOAO PEDRO
Neither the Bees nor Brighton could find a way past each other in this goalless draw. Owners of Pervis Estupinan (£4.9m), Tariq Lamptey (£3.9m) and Sergio Reguilon (£4.4m) weren’t even rewarded for such clean sheets, as all were substitutes.
Up front, Joao Pedro (£5.2m) returned from injury to play for the first time since Gameweek 23. But it was a frustrating night for both him and Ivan Toney (£8.1m), as the latter failed to score for the seventh successive match.
