Scout Notes – Champions League – Tuesday

Kevin De Bruyne stars but Sergio Aguero misfires as Man City are stretched for a change, while Harry Kane is at it again away from home.

Liverpool, however, are left to rue a night of wasted opportunities.

Here are the notes from the first batch of Matchday 2 Champions League fixtures.

Tough test for City, long night for Aguero

After a fortnight spent steamrolling lesser sides, Man City were given a much sterner test by Shakhtar Donetsk just when they needed it most.

Heavy league wins over the likes of Watford and Crystal Palace, and against Feyenoord in Europe, are all well and good, but the Ukrainians put in a performance much more in keeping with what Pep Guardiola’s team might expect to face when travelling to Chelsea on Saturday.

Shakhtar outplayed their hosts for much of the first half before goals from the excellent Kevin De Bruyne and substitute Raheem Sterling capped a much-improved showing from City after the break.

They could even afford to miss a penalty – Sergio Aguero the guilty party – as they made it seven straight wins and five clean sheets from six matches in all competitions.

The tireless De Bruyne scored his first goal of the season, smashing home after being fed by David Silva, before substitutes Bernardo Silva and Sterling combined to seal the win.

By then, the 27.3% of Fantasy Premier League managers who own Aguero might have been concerned less about their man missing a penalty than the fact that he had not long left the pitch.

The striker ended up playing 85 minutes, whereas his fellow forward Gabriel Jesus was subbed off after just 54 minutes.

Aguero has been bought by another 97,000+ new managers this week, whereas Jesus has been sold by more than 127,000.

Guardiola may well start both at Chelsea, with one of the pair perhaps withdrawn early. However, the doubt and anxiety is typical of what is to come throughout this period, with Man City juggling matches on two fronts.

It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that Aguero has struggled for pitch time for Argentina in recent months and is likely to earn far less minutes – if, indeed, any – over the upcoming international break. This could be a factor when Guardiola is considering his weekend line-up.

Elsewhere, the fact that the 4.2% owned Sterling was used only from the bench adds to Guardiola’s Stamford Bridge options. He scored his fourth goal in three matches when he came on – stating his case to make the starting line-up to face Chelsea.

Leroy Sane started back-to-back matches for the first time this season and was as dynamic as ever. But he was wasteful in front of goal and will be fearing for his starting berth on Saturday.

Second-guessing Guardiola’s intentions is always a risky business, although the 1.6% still holding on to injured defender Benjamin Mendy were at least given relatively definitive news by the manager post-match.

“Mendy is traveling to Barcelona and we will see what the problem is – our first impression is he will be out for longer than we thought. We will know more on Thursday. If he is out it will be like with Ilkay Gundogan and I will feel sad for him. He is a unique player with the joy he gives and it is a big setback. We will see in January whether we need to make a new signing.”

Midfielder Fabian Delph again deputised for Mendy and played well – great news for his footballing flexibility, but a non-starter from a Fantasy sense.

Who is a non-starter come Saturday evening is what will exercise our minds for the meantime.

Kane yet again

A Harry Kane hat-trick steered Spurs safely through what had the potential to be a bit of a Champions League banana skin in Cyprus.

The England striker made it nine goals for the season – seven of which have come in his last three matches on the road – as Spurs scored from their first three shots on target.

Assists in the 3-0 win came from Toby Alderweireld, Moussa Sissoko and Kieran Trippier.

Spurs travelled to Cyprus without key midfielder Christian Eriksen, who fell ill on Sunday.

There is no suggestion that the 26.2%-owned Dane won’t recover in time for the weekend trip to Huddersfield and, in fact, his FPL ownership will have welcomed his absence as their man had started seven of Spurs’ eight matches prior to last night’s fixture.

Others who took no part in Nicosia included Dele Alli and Jan Vertonghen, who were both suspended for the clash.

That should leave a squad relatively fresh for Saturday lunchtime’s match at Huddersfield.

And in Kane (27.9%), they have a forward in consistently devastating away form.

Liverpool miss out in Moscow

Jurgen Klopp cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines as his Liverpool players dominated in Russia only to be held to a second consecutive Champions League draw.

The Reds out-shot their hosts 16-4 but had to make do with just the one goal, from the impressive Philippe Coutinho, for their efforts.

The Brazilian fired home after a neat one-two with Sadio Mane – a combination that can now be reunited in the league as the Senegal international has completed his three-match domestic ban.

Coutinho is already picking up plenty of new owners this week – 89,000 and counting – and he dropped back into the midfield three in Moscow as Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah took the forward roles.

All three were guilty of spurning excellent chances to turn their dominance into goals, and the continued woes of Firmino (25.5%) will be of particular concern to his FPL ownership.

The forward has now scored just the once since the Gameweek 3 mauling of Arsenal and continues to be the subject of heavy sales – 150,000+ making him the most sold player of Gameweek 7 to date.

The trip to Newcastle now looks vital for his Fantasy prospects. Blank again and Firmino will be tasked with break his dry spell in matches with Manchester United and Spurs, arguably the two most efficient defences in the league.

At the back, Trent Alexander-Arnold came in for the suspended Joe Gomez, with the latter likely to return for Sunday’s trip to Newcastle, while left-back Alberto Moreno started in Moscow, which could open the way for Andrew Robertson to make his third league appearance at the weekend.

Klopp, meanwhile, surprised many by giving Loris Karius a run-out in goal and the keeper should probably have made a better job of keeping out the free-kick that handed Moscow an undeserved lead.

Simon Mignolet saved a penalty last time out in the league and it would be a major shock if he fails to return for the Tyneside trip.