Rounding off our Scout Notes from Gameweek 3 are three more matches from Saturday.
They are Brentford v Southampton, Everton v Bournemouth and Ipswich Town v Fulham.
DAVIS + ROBINSON UNDERSCORE ATTACKING POTENTIAL
On a day in which we didn’t see a single clean sheet recorded, Antonee Robinson (£4.6m) and Leif Davis (£4.5m) highlighted the upside of their attacking potential.
These are two of the great hopes for assists in the budget defender pool. Both of them delivered on Saturday.
The Fulham left-back’s assist was textbook Robinson: an overlap and a cross, finished off by Adama Traore (£5.0m). The former Wolves winger has been bright in the opening three weeks, adding end product to his otherwise impressive game.
Davis was fortunate in the extent that his assist was a square pass made inside his own half. Liam Delap (£5.5m) did most of the hard work, carrying the ball forward about 25 yards before unleashing a long-range strike past Berno Leno (£5.0m).
But that square pass came from one of the many forward runs from Davis. He was second for final-third touches in this match, something that won’t be a surprise to anyone who saw him in the Championship last season.
Above: Players involved in Ipswich v Fulham sorted by final-third touches
He also resumed corner-taking duty, with two of his three chances created coming from set pieces. Delap should have buried one of them.
SMITH ROWE + PEREIRA CONUNDRUM?
Marco Silva’s answer to having two number 10s has been to either stick one of them further back or play both as eights. It’s leaving Fulham, without a clean sheet this season, looking a little exposed in the middle. It’s also meant that Emile Smith Rowe (£5.6m) and Andreas Pereira (£5.5m) are doing more defensive work than owners would like.
Above: Emile Smith Rowe’s touch heatmap against Ipswich
As the excellent Cottage Tactico points out, Smith Rowe coming deep is also perhaps something to do with the Fulham backline being limited in possession.
Joachim Andersen (£4.4m) is ready-made to solve that problem, while the combative Sander Berge (£5.0m) has been brought in presumably to play alongside Sasa Lukic (£5.0m) in midfield. The introduction of those two players could serve to push Smith Rowe into more attacking areas – assuming he gets the nod over Pereira.
The former Arsenal man still got forward to register two shots on Saturday, highlighting his canny knack for ghosting into the box.
Rodrigo Muniz (£6.1m) possesses that chip, too, sitting second among forwards for shots (11) – he just can’t put the damn ball in the net at present.
He may just need one to land to rediscover his confidence but patience will be running thin, with Newcastle, Man City and Aston Villa to come soon:
£4.5m MIDFIELDER PRAISED – AND ARMSTRONG TO GET THE AXE?
After scoring just two goals in each of his previous two Premier League seasons, Adam Armstrong (£5.5m) had it all to do to prove he can cut it at the top level. It’s not started well.
Losing possession when played clean through by Ben Brereton Diaz (£5.4m), he later produced a miskick when free, six yards out.
Hooked at half-time, a Gameweek 4 start now looks in some doubt – especially as Russell Martin namechecked the contribution that replacement Cameron Archer (£5.0m) made off the bench.
“We have to take the leash off a little bit in the final third, which Matty Fernandes, Tyler Dibling did. They were fantastic, Cam Archer did. So there’s a lot of food for thought in terms of team selection over the next couple of weeks.” – Russell Martin
Attacking midfielder Tyler Dibling (£4.5m) was excellent on his introduction, as he has been throughout pre-season and in his previous league cameos.
At just 18, stamina is arguably the only thing in question.
“Tyler was knackered at the end because he couldn’t have played 90 minutes today. He played 90 minutes on Wednesday. His body is not conditioned to do that yet at this level, but he is an outstanding player. So we have to find a way to get him up to speed by doing that.
“He does one amazing action, then he’s too long to recover to then get the next one. But he’s an incredible player. I love him as a young man as well. So it’s my job to get him ready and make sure he can help us and put himself in the team.
“And he’s doing that with his performances. So he’s probably unlucky not to play, not to start a game yet. But I hope people understand that the guys in the team have been amazing for us. So there’s a level of credit that they’ve built up.
But now, after three defeats, it doesn’t really mean much, unfortunately, in football it moves on quickly and now it’s about the best guys on the pitch that are in the best place. Tyler’s given himself every opportunity to be in the team or to really impact it straight away from the bench.” – Russell Martin on Tyler Dibling
Yukinara Sugawara (£4.5m) got Saints’ first goal of the season, an injury-time consolation. If – and it’s a big if – Southampton can tighten up, their wing-backs offer a significant attacking threat. Sugawara and Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.5m) have registered a combined 10 shots already this season, with the latter seeing another close-range effort saved on Saturday.
Above: The leading defenders for shots this season
Shooting themselves in the foot by gifting Brentford their first two goals (an error had also allowed Newcastle to score in Gameweek 1), Saints left debutant Aaron Ramsdale (£4.4m) with little chance of a clean sheet.
MBEUMO SET FOR SURGE IN DEMAND
Grateful for those defensive slip-ups was Bryan Mbeumo (£7.0m), who netted the Bees’ first two strikes.
In the right place to tap in when Kevin Schade’s (£5.5m) shot rebounded off the post, he probably couldn’t believe his luck when Saints gift-wrapped Brentford another goal. Mathias Jensen (£5.5m) provided the assist for Mbeumo this time after the visitors were again dispossessed close to their own goal.
While the next two tricky away trips mean he’s perhaps not a priority transfer over the international break (150,000+ managers seem to disagree), he’ll soon seriously re-enter the thinking come Gameweek 6:
With Ivan Toney (£7.3m) now confirmed as gone, penalties are surely Mbeumo’s this season.
Toney’s exit and Igor Thiago‘s (£5.9m) injury are also great news for Yoane Wissa (£6.1m). He’s almost guaranteed to be leading the line until December, when Thiago may return.
It had threatened to be a frustrating afternoon for Wissa, with six shots registered, but he got his reward when bundling in a 69th-minute long throw.
The Bees’ defence still looks a bit iffy, with 20 shots conceded to Southampton. A lack of fit full-backs persists to be an issue, with even makeshift option Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) coming off injured here. Thomas Frank doesn’t yet know the severity of it.
AN EXCELLENT 87 MINUTES…
Oh, Everton.
For the first 87 minutes of this contest, this was like the stingy Toffees of last season. Bournemouth, the better team against Newcastle United in Gameweek 2, barely had a sniff.
At the other end, there was the rare sight of chances actually being taken. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.9m) played a part in both Everton goals: first teeing up Michael Keane (£4.0m), then converting Dwight McNeil‘s (£5.4m) pass.
The xG race chart below read 2.12-0.50 heading into the final three minutes of normal time:
Then, capitulation. Three crosses, three Bournemouth goals. Marcus Tavernier (£5.5m) even spurned a glorious chance in between Lewis Cook‘s (£5.0m) equaliser and Luis Sinisterra‘s (£5.0m) winner.
“For 87 minutes this was a very, very good performance and I was very pleased with the mixture of the play, they [Bournemouth] play quite long, just putting it forward, and we dealt with that. No problem.
“And then after the first goal, I could smell it in the air. Not necessarily not winning. But I could smell it, I thought ‘this isn’t right’. And I’m trying to correct them, I’m screaming at them to get their shape, get the wide men tucked in and just do the absolute ugly side of game. Play forwards, win your headers, win your tackles, win your races. We didn’t, and they get a win out of nowhere.” – Sean Dyche
You wonder how much of a dispiriting effect this will have on Everton’s players heading into Gameweek 4. Potentially great news for Aston Villa assets, then, as they welcome the Toffees to Villa Park.
This wasn’t a great advert for Bournemouth, either. Dismal for 80-odd minutes, having been outplayed for much of their last away match at Forest.
“It was the worst game we played this season. We had been playing very well before, but Everton deserved to win today. But the players kept pushing.” – Andoni Iraola
In reality, there’ll be few takers for their players for the upcoming run – although there is that juicy Gameweek 6-7 double-header as a two-week punt:
Antoine Semenyo (£5.5m) continues to tick over nicely, returning in all three Gameweeks so far.
He’s also the division’s leading shot-taker in 2024/25, even ahead of a certain Norwegian:
