Sunday's Scout Notes - Best FPL Tips, Advice, Team News, Picks, and Statistics from Fantasy Football Scout

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Cunha	MUN	8.0m	115.4%	Very Likely
Rogers	AVL	7.3m	95.7%	Likely
Ekitiké	LIV	9.0m	88.5%	Likely
James	CHE	5.6m	101.1%	Very Likely
Dalot	MUN	4.4m	90.4%	Likely
Chalobah	CHE	5.5m	95.2%	Likely
L.Miley	NEW	4.4m	99.9%	Likely
Lewis-Potter	BRE	4.8m	98.3%	Likely
Mukiele	SUN	4.2m	98.4%	Maybe
Verbruggen	BHA	4.4m	92.2%	Unlikely
Alderete	SUN	4.0m	89.2%	Unlikely
Truffert	BOU	4.5m	90.7%	Unlikely
O'Reilly	MCI	5.3m	91.5%	Unlikely
Cherki	MCI	6.6m	60.0%	Unlikely
Wirtz	LIV	8.1m	50.2%	Unlikely
Virgil	LIV	5.9m	76.8%	Unlikely
Andersen	FUL	4.6m	73.7%	Unlikely
Mount	MUN	5.9m	71.4%	Unlikely
Guéhi	CRY	5.3m	65.3%	Unlikely
Tete	FUL	4.5m	69.4%	Unlikely
Roefs	SUN	4.8m	67.1%	Unlikely
Saliba	ARS	5.9m	59.9%	Unlikely
Mitchell	CRY	5.0m	63.4%	Unlikely
Van den Berg	BRE	4.5m	58.9%	Unlikely
Rice	ARS	7.2m	51.6%	Unlikely
Petrović	BOU	4.5m	59.6%	Unlikely
Trossard	ARS	6.9m	55.4%	Unlikely
E.Le Fée	SUN	4.9m	55.4%	Unlikely
Cullen	BUR	5.0m	55.0%	Unlikely
Konaté	LIV	5.4m	53.4%	Unlikely
Calvert-Lewin	LEE	5.8m	47.5%	Unlikely
Heaven	MUN	3.8m	49.7%	Unlikely
Pickford	EVE	5.5m	52.3%	Unlikely
Dúbravka	BUR	4.0m	51.6%	Unlikely
Raya	ARS	6.0m	49.9%	Unlikely
Smith Rowe	FUL	5.6m	48.5%	Unlikely
Semenyo	BOU	7.7m	52.2%	Unlikely
Gvardiol	MCI	6.0m	41.6%	Unlikely
Rúben	MCI	5.7m	46.6%	Unlikely
A.Becker	LIV	5.4m	44.9%	Unlikely

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
De Ligt	MUN	5.0m	101.4%	Very Likely
Pedro Porro	TOT	5.3m	100.9%	Very Likely
Udogie	TOT	4.4m	100.8%	Very Likely
Nørgaard	ARS	5.2m	100.4%	Very Likely
Cucurella	CHE	6.2m	99.4%	Likely
James	LEE	5.3m	99.6%	Likely
Nwaneri	ARS	5.1m	95.3%	Maybe
McAtee	NFO	5.1m	98.6%	Maybe
Colwill	CHE	4.8m	97.5%	Maybe
L.Guilherme	WHU	4.9m	94.9%	Maybe
Jair Cunha	NFO	4.3m	96.0%	Maybe
P.M.Sarr	TOT	4.6m	95.1%	Maybe
Trafford	MCI	4.6m	95.2%	Maybe
Yoro	MUN	4.3m	94.7%	Maybe
Mosquera	ARS	5.4m	94.2%	Maybe
Hannibal	BUR	4.8m	93.5%	Unlikely
Bevan	BOU	3.9m	94.6%	Unlikely
Gibbs-White	NFO	7.3m	94.0%	Unlikely
Welbeck	BHA	6.4m	81.6%	Unlikely
Tasker	BHA	3.9m	92.5%	Unlikely
Barnes	BUR	4.3m	92.0%	Unlikely
Fer López	WOL	5.2m	92.5%	Unlikely
Fitzgerald	MUN	4.4m	91.4%	Unlikely
Enzo	CHE	6.5m	86.4%	Unlikely
Adams	BOU	5.0m	86.5%	Unlikely
Hermansen	WHU	4.3m	87.7%	Unlikely
Robertson	LIV	5.8m	87.3%	Unlikely
Odobert	TOT	5.3m	84.8%	Unlikely
Benitez	CRY	4.0m	87.5%	Unlikely
Aké	MCI	5.3m	87.0%	Unlikely
Johnson	SUN	3.9m	86.1%	Unlikely
Bayindir	MUN	4.8m	87.2%	Unlikely
Broggio	AVL	4.5m	85.7%	Unlikely
Bellegarde	WOL	5.2m	85.8%	Unlikely
Bruno G.	NEW	7.0m	79.6%	Unlikely
Van Hecke	BHA	4.6m	81.0%	Unlikely
Eze	ARS	7.6m	55.6%	Unlikely
R.Gomes	WOL	4.4m	81.4%	Unlikely
Seung soo	NEW	4.4m	80.5%	Unlikely
March	BHA	5.8m	80.4%	Unlikely

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Raya Martin	ARS	B
Up	Pickford	EVE	B, Vs
Down	Alisson	LIV	C, Vs
Down	Donnarumma	MCI	B, Vs, Sus
No Change	Kelleher	BRE	B, Vs
No Change	Dubravka	BUR	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	van Dijk	LIV	C, Vs
No Change	Jurriën Timber	ARS	C
Up	Keane	EVE	Vs
No Change	O’Reilly	MCI	B, Vs
No Change	Marc Guehi	CRY	A
No Change	van den Berg	BRE	C, Vs
No Change	Thiaw	NEW	C
Down	Andersen	FUL	C
No Change	Milenkovic	NFO	C, Sus
No Change	van Hecke	BHA	A
No Change	Mukiele	SUN	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Saka	ARS	A
No Change	Foden	MCI	A, Vs
Up	Matheus Cunha	MUN	A
No Change	Semenyo	BOU	A
Up	Wirtz	LIV	B, Vs
Up	Grealish	EVE	B, Vs
No Change	Bruno Guimarães	NEW	B, Sus
No Change	Schade	BRE	C, Vs
Down	Minteh	BHA	C
No Change	Anderson	NFO	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Haaland	MCI	A, Vs
Up	Ekitiké	LIV	A, Vs
Up	Bowen	WHU	B, Vs
Down	Thiago	BRE	C, Vs, Inj
No Change	Mateta	CRY	C
No Change	Woltemade	NEW	B, Rest

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Cunha	MUN	8.0m	115.4%	Very Likely
Rogers	AVL	7.3m	95.7%	Likely
Ekitiké	LIV	9.0m	88.5%	Likely
James	CHE	5.6m	101.1%	Very Likely
Dalot	MUN	4.4m	90.4%	Likely
Chalobah	CHE	5.5m	95.2%	Likely
L.Miley	NEW	4.4m	99.9%	Likely
Lewis-Potter	BRE	4.8m	98.3%	Likely
Mukiele	SUN	4.2m	98.4%	Maybe
Verbruggen	BHA	4.4m	92.2%	Unlikely
Alderete	SUN	4.0m	89.2%	Unlikely
Truffert	BOU	4.5m	90.7%	Unlikely
O'Reilly	MCI	5.3m	91.5%	Unlikely
Cherki	MCI	6.6m	60.0%	Unlikely
Wirtz	LIV	8.1m	50.2%	Unlikely
Virgil	LIV	5.9m	76.8%	Unlikely
Andersen	FUL	4.6m	73.7%	Unlikely
Mount	MUN	5.9m	71.4%	Unlikely
Guéhi	CRY	5.3m	65.3%	Unlikely
Tete	FUL	4.5m	69.4%	Unlikely
Roefs	SUN	4.8m	67.1%	Unlikely
Saliba	ARS	5.9m	59.9%	Unlikely
Mitchell	CRY	5.0m	63.4%	Unlikely
Van den Berg	BRE	4.5m	58.9%	Unlikely
Rice	ARS	7.2m	51.6%	Unlikely
Petrović	BOU	4.5m	59.6%	Unlikely
Trossard	ARS	6.9m	55.4%	Unlikely
E.Le Fée	SUN	4.9m	55.4%	Unlikely
Cullen	BUR	5.0m	55.0%	Unlikely
Konaté	LIV	5.4m	53.4%	Unlikely
Calvert-Lewin	LEE	5.8m	47.5%	Unlikely
Heaven	MUN	3.8m	49.7%	Unlikely
Pickford	EVE	5.5m	52.3%	Unlikely
Dúbravka	BUR	4.0m	51.6%	Unlikely
Raya	ARS	6.0m	49.9%	Unlikely
Smith Rowe	FUL	5.6m	48.5%	Unlikely
Semenyo	BOU	7.7m	52.2%	Unlikely
Gvardiol	MCI	6.0m	41.6%	Unlikely
Rúben	MCI	5.7m	46.6%	Unlikely
A.Becker	LIV	5.4m	44.9%	Unlikely

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
De Ligt	MUN	5.0m	101.4%	Very Likely
Pedro Porro	TOT	5.3m	100.9%	Very Likely
Udogie	TOT	4.4m	100.8%	Very Likely
Nørgaard	ARS	5.2m	100.4%	Very Likely
Cucurella	CHE	6.2m	99.4%	Likely
James	LEE	5.3m	99.6%	Likely
Nwaneri	ARS	5.1m	95.3%	Maybe
McAtee	NFO	5.1m	98.6%	Maybe
Colwill	CHE	4.8m	97.5%	Maybe
L.Guilherme	WHU	4.9m	94.9%	Maybe
Jair Cunha	NFO	4.3m	96.0%	Maybe
P.M.Sarr	TOT	4.6m	95.1%	Maybe
Trafford	MCI	4.6m	95.2%	Maybe
Yoro	MUN	4.3m	94.7%	Maybe
Mosquera	ARS	5.4m	94.2%	Maybe
Hannibal	BUR	4.8m	93.5%	Unlikely
Bevan	BOU	3.9m	94.6%	Unlikely
Gibbs-White	NFO	7.3m	94.0%	Unlikely
Welbeck	BHA	6.4m	81.6%	Unlikely
Tasker	BHA	3.9m	92.5%	Unlikely
Barnes	BUR	4.3m	92.0%	Unlikely
Fer López	WOL	5.2m	92.5%	Unlikely
Fitzgerald	MUN	4.4m	91.4%	Unlikely
Enzo	CHE	6.5m	86.4%	Unlikely
Adams	BOU	5.0m	86.5%	Unlikely
Hermansen	WHU	4.3m	87.7%	Unlikely
Robertson	LIV	5.8m	87.3%	Unlikely
Odobert	TOT	5.3m	84.8%	Unlikely
Benitez	CRY	4.0m	87.5%	Unlikely
Aké	MCI	5.3m	87.0%	Unlikely
Johnson	SUN	3.9m	86.1%	Unlikely
Bayindir	MUN	4.8m	87.2%	Unlikely
Broggio	AVL	4.5m	85.7%	Unlikely
Bellegarde	WOL	5.2m	85.8%	Unlikely
Bruno G.	NEW	7.0m	79.6%	Unlikely
Van Hecke	BHA	4.6m	81.0%	Unlikely
Eze	ARS	7.6m	55.6%	Unlikely
R.Gomes	WOL	4.4m	81.4%	Unlikely
Seung soo	NEW	4.4m	80.5%	Unlikely
March	BHA	5.8m	80.4%	Unlikely

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Raya Martin	ARS	B
Up	Pickford	EVE	B, Vs
Down	Alisson	LIV	C, Vs
Down	Donnarumma	MCI	B, Vs, Sus
No Change	Kelleher	BRE	B, Vs
No Change	Dubravka	BUR	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	van Dijk	LIV	C, Vs
No Change	Jurriën Timber	ARS	C
Up	Keane	EVE	Vs
No Change	O’Reilly	MCI	B, Vs
No Change	Marc Guehi	CRY	A
No Change	van den Berg	BRE	C, Vs
No Change	Thiaw	NEW	C
Down	Andersen	FUL	C
No Change	Milenkovic	NFO	C, Sus
No Change	van Hecke	BHA	A
No Change	Mukiele	SUN	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Saka	ARS	A
No Change	Foden	MCI	A, Vs
Up	Matheus Cunha	MUN	A
No Change	Semenyo	BOU	A
Up	Wirtz	LIV	B, Vs
Up	Grealish	EVE	B, Vs
No Change	Bruno Guimarães	NEW	B, Sus
No Change	Schade	BRE	C, Vs
Down	Minteh	BHA	C
No Change	Anderson	NFO	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Haaland	MCI	A, Vs
Up	Ekitiké	LIV	A, Vs
Up	Bowen	WHU	B, Vs
Down	Thiago	BRE	C, Vs, Inj
No Change	Mateta	CRY	C
No Change	Woltemade	NEW	B, Rest

Sunday bloody Sunday, as Joe Kinnear would doubtless say, treated us to an intense collection of Premiership goodness including some Brazilian-like overhead miracles from Crouch, some real-life Brazilian magic from Geovanni and a dose of Brazilian heartbreak at Eastlands. Oh, and Chelsea won again.

Here’s the notes…

West Ham 1 Bolton 3

Both teams went with 4-5-1 and were both were unchanged. Zola kept fit-again Bellamy on the bench, while Megson did the same with Matt Taylor, retaining Gardner on the left of midfield. McCann was once again preferred to Joey O’Brien.

I fancied Bolton to get something out of West Ham and so it turned out. Zola’s bubble burst by two errors from the normally dependable Green. He handed first half goals to Davies and Cahill, as Bolton shut the game down before taking control.

Davies now has four goals this term and is presenting himself as a rival to the likes of Carlton Cole and Zaki as a low-mid price purchase. He tucks in on the right as part of the 4-5-1 but, such is his presence at crucial set plays and as the target of diagonal high balls, he is notching up points. As for their defenders, Cahill, will now get renewed interest but Gardner could struggle to keep the left midfield berth after Taylor’s superb third goal. Gardner might end up displacing Samuel at left back however.

Taylor is one of those players, like Bullard, who I’ve backed without results in the past. His goal here will give him massive confidence however, and have him shooting from distance regularly for the next couple. He might actually be worth a look as a low-mid price alternative to Denilson and Ireland over the coming weeks.

Take a look at Bolton’s approaching fixtures and you’ll see that have a kind run with potential for clean sheets and attacking returns. Now with form following this win, you could do worse than invest in Bolton for your budget purchases over the next month or so.

As for West Ham – we’ve seen a lot of recent interest in both Etherington and Cole – quiet rightly. Cole’s goal today will add to his rep even further and we’re likely to see continued price rise in the FPL as a result.

Fixtures aren’t too kind for this pair though. They face a bouyant Hull next and then go into games against Arsenal and United – those games could well quieten the returns of their attacking players. Defensively meanwhile, you don’t need me to tell you that they are a no-go for clean sheets – a shame because Illunga looks lively down the left.

Lineups
West Ham: Green, Faubert, Neill, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker, Noble, Di Michele (Bellamy 54), Etherington (Sears 79), Cole.
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Lopez, Boa Morte, Mullins, Davenport.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Andy O’Brien, Cahill, Samuel, Davies, Nolan, McCann, Muamba (JoeyO’Brien 80), Gardner, Elmander (Taylor 73).
Subs not used: Al Habsi, Hunt, Smolarek, Riga, Shittu.

Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 0

Terry and Joe Cole made it but Scolari was without Alex at the back so Ivanovic came in for his first Premiership start. Ashley Cole also returned at left back with Bridge dropping to the bench as expected. Anelka was restored to the lineup for the injured Drogba who is out for a month. As for Villa, yet again, O’Neill named an unchanged Premiership side.

This was too easy for a powerful Chelsea, who continue to look ominously strong at the top of the table. Cole’s first came from a Lampard assist, while Anelka struck after Ballack’s shot was blocked. Lampard and his German midfield colleague controlled the game and Villa barely threatened a Chelsea defence without Carvalho and Alex through injury.

Fantasy investment in Chelsea must surely continue, with fixtures looking decent over the next month. Lampard remains essential, while the defence is one of few reassured clean sheet getters around – even without Carvalho.

As for Villa, they will have much much easier days than this. It’s Portsmouth, Wigan, Blackburn and Newcastle next for them – Young should already be a fixture in most fantasy sides by now, but with those fixtures should see also further returns for Carew and possibly Laursen, despite a continued struggle for clean sheets. On that note, it was interesting that O’Neil replaced Davies with Cuellar at half-time – could it be that Cuellar is set for a run in the side following the international break.

Lineups
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Joe Cole (Kalou 57), Ballack, Lampard, Malouda (Belletti 83), Anelka (Di Santo 46).
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Bridge, Ferreira, Mancienne.

Aston Villa: Friedel, Luke Young (Milner 46), Davies (Cuellar 46), Laursen, Shorey, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, Ashley Young, Carew (Harewood 71), Agbonlahor.
Subs Not Used: Guzan, Knight, Salifou, Gardner.

Injuries and Bans
Joe Cole picked up an injury in the second half and was subbed on 56 minutes. Anelka also picked up a knock and was subbed at half time.

Man City 2 Liverpool 3

Hughes welcomed Richard Dunne back to his defence after he missed the UEFA Cup tie in the week. Ben Haim dropped to the bench then.

For Liverpool, Rafa brought in Mascherano as expected but chose to drop Keane to the bench, a surprise considering he notched his first Liverpool goal in midweek. Alonso kept his place then, while Aurellio retained the left back spot with Dossena benched as expected.

A cracking game at Eastlands, with Liverpool confirming their title credentials with a superb fightback after trailing 2-0 at half time. Ireland and Garrido added further to their fantasy reputations as excellent budget midfield and defensive options in that first half. Garrido’s free kick, in particular, a real surprise considering the Brazilians on the pitch. He looks a good option if you’re backing City for further clean sheets. Sadly, the second half display put a big question mark over the chances of that.

Liverpool came out and dragged themselves back in it with two Torres strikes. As I mentioned in the picks this week – he now has the form and that’s rapidly turning into goals and fantasy points. Whether any manager with Ronaldo/Lampard in their team can afford to capitalise on it is another matter.

Both sides will face defensive shuffles next time out. City will lose Zabaleta for three matches, which could see Ben Haim come in and Richards switch to right back. Either that or Onuoha will get his chance.

Liverpool meanwhile, before this the top defensive lineup in fantasy terms, will be forced to change their central defensive pairing with Skrtel picking up a bad injury late on. His place will most likely hand belated starts to Agger who was benched today, although Hyypia could also be a factor, particularly with Wigan and Heskey coming next.

City’s fixtures look very strong indeed over the coming weeks and they look a prime target for further investment. The defence with Garrido cheap and Kompany out of position, could get further interest but it’s in attacking terms that this City side must be exploited. Wright-Phillips is a must over the next 5-6 games for me, while Ireland continues to present himself as an excellent low-to-mid price option. Expect further FPL price rises for both of those this week.

As for Liverpool, there will be those trying to get Torres in their lineup once again after a second consecutive brace. Good luck with that – he’s on fire no doubt but priced out of most managers’ reach now that Ronaldo is back in the picture.

Elsewhere Agger could get some interest but Gerrard remains behind a series of midfield options this term and looks overpriced based on current returns.

Lineups
Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Dunne, Richards, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Kompany, Elano (Petrov 85), Robinho (Evans 80), Jo (Fernandes 70).
Subs Not Used: Schmeichel, Hamann, Ben-Haim, Sturridge.

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio (Dossena 70), Mascherano (Keane 71), Kuyt, Gerrard, Alonso, Riera (Benayoun 81), Torres.
Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Agger, Babel, Leiva Lucas.

Injuries and Bans
Zabaleta will serve an immediate three match ban for the red received for serious foul play. He will miss games against Newcastle, Stoke and Boro. Onuoha could be drafted in at right back or Richards could shift there with Ben Haim getting starts.

Jo picked up an injury and was subbed on 69 minutes. Skrtel picked up what looked like a nasty injury late on and was stretchered from the field, reducing Liverpool to 10 men.

Portsmouth 2 Stoke City 1

Harry welcomed back Diop ahead of schedule but was without Utaka who was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Diop came in for the suspended Diarra. It was back to 4-4-2 with Pamarot dropping to the bench and Belhadj coming in at left back as expected.

Stoke boss Pulis welcomed back Delap and Fuller to his starting lineup after they recovered from a hamstring and illness respectively. Sorensen had flu however, so Simonsen started in goal. Diao also went down with it so Amdy Faye was restored to midfield. Tonge came in to replace Lawrence who was of course, scythed down by his dog earlier in the week and faces around a month on the sidelines.

A superb moment of skill from Crouch and a fifth of the season from Defore were enough to give Pompey the win then. Defoe continues offer the strongest mid-price value amongst the strikers and now Crouch is beginning to pick up form alongside him. The signs look good for these two then, and with home games with Fulham and Wigan to come over the next four, they should be in for continued profits.

Stoke again relied on the Delap long throw and scored from it here – Fuller finishing from Kitson’s flick on. Their fixtures pick up over the next three with Spurs and Sunderland sandwiching a tricky trip to City. Fuller might get some short-term interest then – you’ve certainly got to fancy him against the Spurs defence next time out.

Lineups
Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Belhadj, Diop, Davis, Hughes, A Traore (Hreidarsson 90), Crouch, Defoe.
Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Little, Kanu, Hreidarsson, Kaboul, Mvuemba, Pamarot.

Stoke: Simonsen, Griffin, Cort, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Delap (Cresswell 73), Olofinjana, Amdy Faye, Tonge (Soares 65), Fuller, Kitson (Sidibe 61).
Subs Not Used: Whelan, Shawcross, Wilkinson, Sonko.

Tottenham 0 Hull City 1

Ramos shuffled again with King missing out as per usual. Corluka came in alongside Woodgate in the centre which meant that Gunter held on to right back. Pavyluchencko replaced Bent up front after being cup-tied in Europe. Campbell kept his place in the starting lineup with Bentley yet again warming the bench.

Hull were unchanged after Marlon King passed a fitness test.

Things go from bad to worse for Spurs while in contrast, Hull are in dreamland. A first clean sheet of the season and another stunning strike from Geovanni enough to hand them another three points in North London.

Geovanni’s goal will grant him intense interest from fantasy managers – he’s gone from a luxury player for Hull, to a double match winner and should now be assured of a run of starts as a result. That restores him to the position of an excellent budget midfield option, along with team mate Marney who struck a post here.

It’s West Ham and West Brom coming up next which look good in attacking terms. After that though, they face Chelsea and United, although on their current run they won’t be fearing those games.

Nothing much to take from the Tottenham performance. They had their chances – twice being denied by the woodwork but there’s little profit to be gained from the Spurs squad at this point in time short of Campbell who got his first Premiership start here and could be worth monitoring as a budget striker. We keep waiting for things to click at the Lane but it’s just not happening. Keeping Bentley benched surely isn’t helping.

Lineups
Tottenham: Gomes, Gunter (Bentley 55), Corluka, Woodgate, Bale, Lennon (Giovani 74), Jenas, Zokora, Modric, Pavlyuchenko (Bent 35), Campbell.
Subs Not Used: Cesar, Dawson, O’Hara, Assou-Ekotto.

Hull: Myhill, McShane, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Marney, Ashbee, Boateng, Geovanni (Halmosi 71), King (Folan 81), Cousin (Mendy 60).
Subs Not Used: Hughes, Duke, Garcia, Ricketts.

Injuries and Bans
Spurs lost Pavlyuchenko just before halt-time with what looked like a dead leg.

Everton 2 Newcastle 2

Moyes lost skipper Phill Neville and was without Cahill through suspension. That meant that Saha started again then in a 4-4-2 and Pienaar came back into the midfield after injury. Fellaini was also restored after being cup-tied against Liege. Baines kept his starting role and Yobo continued on the bench.

Kinnear restored Enrique to left back, dropping Bassong to the bench. Guthrie returned after serving a three match ban, coming into midfield with Xisco dropping to the bench. Duff was pushed up with Owen in attack.

There were two assists for Baines who might at last be facing a run in the side. Defensively however, Everton aren’t a worthy investment, particularly when you consider their next two fixtures against Arsenal and United. Other points of interest – Pienaar looked fairly lively on his return. He should be guaranteed starts as he adds balance to the side on the left. Arteta meanwhile, has clearly taken penalty kick duties from Yakubu after his recent miss.

Talking of Arteta, despite strong returns, Everton’s forthcoming fixtures put doubt over the futures of him and Yakubu in our lineups. Arteta’s set plays and penalties could be enough to warrant keeping him but, in my view, he trails the likes of Ronaldo, Lampard, Wright-Phillips and Young, so now could be a good time to make a change should you lack one of those performers. Ireland and Geovanni are also presenting good cheap alternatives in midfield that would free up some cash for investment elsewhere in your side.

As Newcastle – there was plenty of fight from them, although Everton did surrender control of this game. Duff had a decent game and could emerge as a potential target if Kinnear continues him in an attacking role. Still to many options elsewhere to be considering the likes of Duff and Owen though.

Lineups
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Arteta, Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar (Vaughan 84), Saha (Anichebe 72), Yakubu.
Subs Not Used: Nash, Yobo, Castillo, Nuno Valente, Rodwell.

Newcastle: Given, Taylor, Coloccini, Cacapa, Jose Enrique (Bassong 39), Geremi (Ameobi 75), Butt, Guthrie, N’Zogbia, Owen, Duff.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Xisco, Edgar, Doninger, Donaldson.

Injuries and Bans
Enrique lasted just 39 minutes before being replaced by Bassong. Taylor also picked up an injury late on.

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