Scout Notes – Carabao Cup – Tuesday

Tony Pulis defies convention by declaring his love for the Carabao Cup as a strong Baggies side progress to the third round, while a much-changed Watford team crash out despite another goal from Etienne Capoue.

Elsewhere, wholesale changes are the order of the evening as Swansea City finally start scoring, Jermain Defoe blanks in a Bournemouth victory and Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Brighton also win.

Here are the notes from Tuesday night’s action.

Baggies up for the cup

It’s hard to devalue a cup contest with so little perceived worth in the first place, but the usual cries of anguish were heard anyway when the likes of Watford took to the pitch having made six changes to their Premier League side.

Then again, the Hornets ended up losing 3-2 to a Bristol City team that made nine, so not all the blame can be laid at the door of those in the top flight.

But at least one top-flight manager is in the Carabao Cup to win it – Tony Pulis.

“We’ve taken the competition seriously. It gives us a chance to get to Wembley. I’ve been fortunate to take Stoke there and it would be lovely to do that with West Brom.”

Pulis made ‘just’ four changes to his side for the trip to Accrington Stanley and was rewarded with a 3-1 win in which Jay Rodriguez scored his first competitive goal for the Baggies. He also provided the assist for fellow forward Salomon Rondon’s strike, while Matt Phillips also emerged with goal and assist returns.

West Brom lost their appeal over Hal Robson-Kanu’s weekend dismissal at Burnley, meaning the Welsh international will now be out of commission until Gameweek 5, missing the visit of Stoke City and a trip to Brighton.

That merely serves to promote Rondon’s case for more time off the bench as Rodriguez has started as the lone striker in both Baggies’ league fixtures so far. Despite being shifted to the flank last night, the latter’s goal will have given some encouragement to his 2.1% Fantasy Premier League ownership.

But no FPL manager has ever grown fat on the produce of West Brom forwards under Pulis, and the manager’s public backing for the Carabao Cup is more likely to raise the risk of injury and even perhaps rotation at the other end of the pitch.

Ahmed Hegazi (19.2%) and Craig Dawson (6.0%) both started in Lancashire, with Allan Nyom and James McClean completing a makeshift back four.

Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans – the latter linked with a move to Man City – remain sidelined, leaving Pulis with little scope to rest his well-owned starting centre-backs – aside from fielding fringe members of the squad in midweek cup fixtures, that is.

That, clearly, is not going to happen. Whether the extra shifts for the centre-halves come back to bite at a later date remains to be seen.

Capoue scores again

For many managers – although clearly not Pulis – an early League Cup exit is a case of losing the battle but winning the war.

So Watford boss Marco Silva might have talked of a 3-2 home loss to Bristol City as ‘a disappointing result’ and ‘a bad night’, but getting back to a Premier League campaign from which they’ve accrued four well-earned points already will be a major consolation.

And so will the goal scoring form of midfielder Etienne Capoue.

The Frenchman was the first major FPL bandwagon of last season, and his final tally of 131 points – from a starting price of just 4.5 – persuaded more than 5% of managers to take a punt on their man starting the new campaign in similarly explosive fashion.

Alas, he didn’t start it all until a ten-minute cameo in the second match at Bournemouth, but even that gave him just enough time to score the Hornets’ second goal of a 2-0 win.

Capoue did start against Bristol City, however. And he scored again. His lack of Premier League pitch-time has prompted a drop in both his ownership, currently at 5.6%, and his price, to 5.4.

Two goals in as many matches might spark a re-evaluation but he’s unlikely to gain too much traction while the Richarlison option retains Watford starts.

Priced at just 6.0 and subject to 81,000 transfers in so far ahead of Gameweek 3, the Brazilian played the full 90 minutes last night, but the closest he came to scoring was when a shot hit the post.

At the back, Jose Holebas’ avid collection of yellow cards – he amassed 15 last season – continued with a pair of them against the Robins which means he will sit out the Brighton fixture.

Unlike Holebas, fit-again Troy Deeney started and finished the cup tie to earn his first minutes of the campaign. Adrian Mariappa grabbed a late consolation goal for the Hornets.

Three Swans also a-scoring

The FPL appeal of Swansea City assets has thus far evolved entirely around their price.

Angel Rangel is currently in 17.6% of squads solely because of his 4.0 value, although he did get his first minutes of the season – a full 90 of them – in the 4-1 win at MK Dons.

At least midfielder Tom Carroll actually plays league matches; a fact that has persuaded 6.2% of managers to invest 4.5 in him.

He was also in action at Stadium MK and earned an assist, but it was others who caught the eye.

Leroy Fer netted twice, Tammy Abraham opened his Swansea account and Jordan Ayew was also on the scoresheet as Paul Clement’s men put two goalless league defeats behind them.

The Swans’ schedule now eases, with a trip to Spurs the one major test until Gameweek 10.

Budget striker options Abraham (5.5) and Ayew (5.0) have now started all three matches this season. Together with midfielder Fer, they’ll be hoping to bring their midweek form to Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace.

Elsewhere…

Jermain Defoe (7.9) made his first start for Bournemouth but failed to score in a 2-1 win at Birmingham. The 3.7%-owned striker has lost both price and managers on the back of a quiet start to the season.

Only three players – Adam Smith, Steve Cook and Ryan Fraser – kept their places from the Cherries side that lost to Watford on Saturday. Fraser and Marc Pugh got the goals at St Andrew’s.

James McArthur scored both goals as Crystal Palace registered their first win under Frank de Boer.

The Eagles beat Ipswich Town 2-1, with the teams making 18 changes between them.

The 12.1%-owned Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy allayed any doubts over an ankle injury picked up in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton by making the bench for the trip to Sheffield United.

There were a mere 16 changes (eight apiece) in this match, with Harry Maguire, Wilfred Ndidi and Christian Fuchs the only players to keep their places from the weekend.

Maguire picked up a knock for a clattering first half challenge but played on and was only subbed late on with the Foxes ahead. Manager Craig Shakespeare declined his centre-back as “fine” post-match.

The Foxes won 4-1, with goals from Demarai Gray, Ahmed Musa and a double from Islam Slimani.

Brighton bounced back from that Leicester defeat with a 1-0 win over Barnet.

James Tilley scored the winner for the Seagulls. Manager Chris Hughton went full Monty and changed his entire team for the encounter which included a first start – and booking – for Anthony Knockaert, who was withdrawn immediately after half-time.