Scout Notes – Gameweek 5 – Saturday

Manchester City’s attacking riches pile on the points as Pep Guardiola goes easy on the rotation, but a Spurs blank deals a bitter blow for well-owned assets at both ends of the pitch.

Elsewhere, there’s frustration for Liverpool, and Roberto Firmino in particular, while Southampton and West Ham keep things tight, Newcastle keep things rolling, and Chicharito’s exodus continues at pace.

Here are the notes from Saturday’s seven Premier League matches.

Guardiola’s first choice are first class

Remember the bad old days when Pep Guardiola could only be trusted not to be trusted at all?

Whisper it, but those days seem to have gone – for now, at least.

For the second match running, the Man City manager made just one change to his line-up, and his new-found taste for stability is clearly working as his charges made it 15 goals without reply over the last three fixtures in all competitions.

Suddenly, tapping into City’s assets is decidedly fashionable, with four players in the top ten most bought ahead of Gameweek 6.

And with good reason. Form is backed up by a fixture list that, aside from a trip to Chelsea and a visit by Arsenal, contains a long run of favourable match-ups all the way through to Gameweek 15.

Sergio Aguero’s 20-point explosion at Watford has propelled him to the top of both the Fantasy Premier League points table and the popularity charts, with a stunning 131,000+ managers bringing him into their squads in less than 24 hours.

David Silva doubled his assist tally to four at Vicarage Road and is now the third most transferred-in player for Gameweek 6, while Gabriel Jesus (a fourth goal in three matches) and Nicolas Otamendi (12 points from a goal and a clean sheet) also make it into the top ten.

Even the previously rejected Kevin De Bruyne is firmly back in favour after providing three assists from his last two starts, aided by a formation tweak since the impressive Benjamin Mendy was brought into the side.

City’s short-term schedule includes three home clashes, with Crystal Palace, Stoke City and Burnley, over the next four matches.

As a result, investing in one of Aguero or Jesus looks near impossible to resist, although the latter has yet to play more than 81 minutes this season and was subbed off on the hour mark yesterday.

And even City’s much-maligned defence has now kept three clean sheets in five attempts, transforming Otamendi or John Stones into viable options at 5.5.

Masochists who like their Pep players more old school in terms of rotation and limited minutes can always go for Raheem Sterling. He’s managed just 237 minutes thus far and still found the time to score in three consecutive appearances.

But a core group of key performers is emerging that Guardiola seems to view as tried, tested and trusted and they’re currently looking relentless in their acquisition of both Premier League and FPL points.

Spurs stars all at Swansea

A Harry Kane blank, a Ben Davies no-show – it wasn’t meant to be this way.

Not, that is, for the 345,000+ managers who made the Spurs left-back the most purchased player of Gameweek 5, or the 207,000+ who bought Kane in anticipation of a repeat of his 13-point Everton match when sacrificial lambs Swansea City arrived at Wembley.

And spare a particular thought for the 41,835 who swapped Romelu Lukaku for Kane, who will now be wincing with every touch that comes the Belgian’s way against Everton.

The Davies benching was perhaps influenced by the Champions League dismissal of Jan Vertonghen – the player who took the Welshman’s spot on the flank yesterday.

Mauricio Pochettino knows the Belgian will miss the September 26 trip to Apoel Nicosia – a fixture bookended by other away matches at West Ham and Huddersfield – and so took the opportunity to hand Davies an early rest as he’ll be on the plane to Cyprus.

His 20.0% ownership will take little comfort from that, and the 30.0% who own Kane will be equally perturbed by their 12.5-priced asset failing to score at home for a third successive league match.

Spurs’ short-term schedule remains favourable, with a visit from Bournemouth to go with the two away days already mentioned, giving Kane ample opportunity to reconnect with his fine recent form.

But Man City’s fixtures are stronger, suggesting that the switch of managers from Kane to Aguero – already close to 17,000 – might well be a trend.

Anfield anguish…for some

Jurgen Klopp’s decision to make seven changes to his side made it very clear how he intends to cope with Liverpool’s Champions League schedule.

Unfortunately for him, his squad players couldn’t quite cope with a resolute Burnley side that has developed a liking for pinching points off the big boys away from home, with five of them extracted from trips to Chelsea, Spurs and now Liverpool.

Mohamed Salah’s reputation survived intact as he started and scored the equaliser yesterday, making him the Reds’ most productive player with 34 points in total this season.

But while Roberto Firmino also avoided Klopp’s rotation policy, the Brazilian blanked. In a match involving Liverpool having 35 attempts to Burnley’s five, Firmino contributed just two of them, neither of which was on target.

For context, that output was matched by full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose total of five penalty area touches was also the same as the striker’s, and Dominic Solanke, with the latter on the pitch for 12 minutes to Firmino’s 79.

The Brazilian has been sold by over 44,000 in the last 24 hours – only the stricken Paul Pogba has suffered bigger losses.

Burnley’s Ben Mee, meanwhile, had three attempts – all inside the area. James Tarkowski was also impressive, surpassing Mee for clearances, blocks and interceptions yet again – no Premier League defender has made more than his 77 this season.

The centre-back pairing demand consideration for home fixtures with Huddersfield, West Ham, Newcastle and Swansea over their next seven matches.

While Liverpool missed the suspended Sadio Mane, Burnley made do without the injured Tom Heaton very nicely indeed.

His replacement between the sticks, Nick Pope, pulled off eight saves and earned a bonus point for his business. With a trip to Man City to come in Gameweek 9, there’s likely to be more where that came from.

As for Liverpool, the frustration of failing to down the Clarets was slightly offset by Philippe Coutinho’s first start of the season. He topped the charts with seven attempts, although, typically, six of those were from outside the area and none were on target.

Klopp’s side now play three of their next four away from Anfield in a thorny-looking run involving lei, new, MUN and tot.

Saints back in business

They might find scoring a chore – Southampton have blanked in three of five league matches so far this season – but Mauricio Pellegrino’s men do like a shut-out.

At the end of a week in which Crystal Palace washed their dirty linen in public, it was the Saints who emerged with a clean sheet from Selhurst Park.

Maya Yoshida returned to partner Wesley Hoedt at the centre of defence, with Jack Stephens making way.

But the rehabilitation of Virgil Van Dijk continues apace; the Dutchman was given a three-minute cameo yesterday to add further competition at the heart of a competent defence.

His installation in the back four for the visit of Manchester United in Gameweek 6 looks a strong possibility, with Yoshida perhaps vulnerable once again. That would see Stephens slip further down the pecking order; in short, his prospects as an FPL asset look doomed.

The upshot of all that is that Cedric Soares remains the go-to guy for many FPL managers – he’s scored just two points fewer than fellow nailed-on full-back Ryan Bertrand, but costs 0.5 less.

That could prove to be money well spent and saved if Southampton continue their defensive ways over the near future.

With the impressive Mario Lemina and the robust Oriol Romeu anchoring midfield, the Saints’ appear to have an outstanding defensive spine.

Once a visit from United is done, the Saints’ schedule (sto NEW WBA bha BUR) looks fruitful.

Not that the 4.0%-owned striker Manolo Gabbiadini should continue to be factored into our plans.

The Italian hasn’t scored since Gameweek 2 and was benched yesterday in favour of the more mobile Shane Long.

Palace pain continues

On seizing the reins at Selhurst Park, Roy Hodgson made it clear that Crystal Palace face more pain before they can think about a recovery. To be honest, he probably hoped that the agony would be postponed until the Gameweek 6 visit to Manchester City.

But Southampton delivered an early blow and, for all their endeavour, the Eagles looks bereft of attacking ideas with Christian Benteke deep in another of his confidence crisis spells.

The Belgian missed a gilt-edged opportunity to salve the early wound inflicted by the Saints, but typically fluffed his lines.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek delivered that chance and conjured several others in another impressive showing.

Notably, Hodgson trusted the Chelsea loanee in the number ten role in support of the forlorn Benteke.

When the schedule and suffering finally subside, Loftus-Cheek – at just 4.5 – clearly offers potential value. We can’t be so certain on the rest of Hodgson’s line-up.

For real value, look north

Newcastle United made it three straight wins with a 2-1 home victory over Stoke City, with their schedule looking as good as their form.

The Geordies will do well to keep Liverpool out when they visit in Gameweek 7, but other than that, their fixtures are compelling (bha sot CRY bur BOU).

Matt Ritchie (5.9) now has four assists from his last three matches and Christian Atsu (5.0) a goal and an assist in his latest pair of starts.

At the back, Rafa Benitez’s men might have failed to make it three straight clean sheets, but Jamaal Lascelles’ second consecutive goal took him up to second in the defenders’ points table, with 31 – not exactly bad for his 4.5 outlay.

Only keeper Rob Elliot (22.4%) has double-figure ownership – and he has produced save points in four of his five starts by way of a thank you for that – making Newcastle assets strong candidates for differentials over the coming weeks.

Vardy delivering…

One player building up his fan base enough to have gone beyond differential status is Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy.

The striker rewarded his 11.5% ownership with his second consecutive league goal – he now has four for the season – when he converted a penalty at Huddersfield.

Spot-kick duties are a key attraction with Vardy. He’s already scored two this campaign, which is just as well as he’s managed only eight attempts overall in five starts – a mere 24 fewer than league-leader Harry Kane.

Vardy’s 8.5 price tag and Leicester’s schedule – they entertain Liverpool next, but then go on a run involving bou WBA swa EVE sto – have a lot going for them.

His fitness, however, might be an issue. Manager Craig Shakespeare took him off after 81 minutes yesterday as a precaution due to a “minor” groin problem.

…as is Cresswell

West Ham have a new-found solidity at the back and, in Aaron Cresswell, a player who offers potential returns at both ends of the pitch.

There weren’t many highlights to be had from the Hammers’ goalless draw at The Hawthorns, but Cresswell’s performance was one of them.

As well as helping to secure a second consecutive clean sheet, the full-back again registered a Gameweek-high for crosses. Quite simply, with Andy Carroll in the side, the instructions from Slaven Bilic are clear. Cresswell looks particularly well briefed to “hit the big Geordie”, with set-piece responsibilities aiding his cause.

For a team that shipped ten goal in their first three matches, West Ham’s current parsimony bodes well ahead of a schedule involving Swansea and Brighton at home and trips to Burnley and Palace, although there’s the small matter of a visit from Spurs to come next.

Cresswell, currently owned by just 0.6% of FPL managers, deserves more love.

The same can’t be said of Chicharito.

The 23.6%-owned striker blanked for the third consecutive match yesterday – and four in five this season – and was subbed off after 75 minutes having had zero attempts.

He was the third most transferred-out player last week and currently sits fourth in Gameweek 6’s hall of shame, with more than 41,000 managers tiring of his 7.0-priced charms.

With a smarting Spurs to come on Saturday, that exodus is likely to gather pace this week.