Sergio Aguero hit a hat-trick as Benjamin Mendy delivered another two assists in Manchester City’s 6-1 defeat of Huddersfield Town.
Watford’s fine start to the season continued, while in our re-cap of yesterday evening’s match, Chelsea and Arsenal both exhilarated in attack – but looked shaky at the back.
In our latest Scout Notes article, we analyse three goal-laden matches from Gameweek 2.
Manchester City 6-1 Huddersfield Town
- Goals: Sergio Aguero (£11.0m) x3, Gabriel Jesus (£10.5m), David Silva (£8.4m), own-goal | Jon Stankovic (£4.0m)
- Assists: Ederson (£5.5m), Benjamin Mendy (£6.1m) x2, Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane (£9.5m)
Sunday’s demolition of Huddersfield Town suggested that Manchester City players are, as they were in 2017/18, going to be a rich source of FPL points this season – but that we must also be prepared for more rotation roulette.
After Leroy Sane‘s (£9.5m) owners were left cursing Pep Guardiola’s team selection last weekend, this time it was the turn of FPL managers who had backed Raheem Sterling (£11.0m), Riyad Mahrez (£9.0m) and Kyle Walker (£6.5m). All three of these premium picks – as well as Sane – started on the bench as Guardiola brought in Gabriel Jesus (£10.5m), Vincent Kompany (£5.5m) and David Silva (£8.4m) for their first league starts of the season.
Rumours that Sergio Aguero (£11.0m) would be dropped for City’s first home match of the 2018/19 campaign proved to be unfounded, with Aguero lining up alongside Jesus as Guardiola switched to a 3-5-2 to combat their visitors’ defensive set-up.
Aguero’s three-goal contribution – and in particular his hat-trick goal – left Guardiola purring:
The pass was outstanding, the control by Sergio Aguero. I never saw him like this since I was here, he is in an incredible condition with the ball and without the ball. I thought to take Sergio off before the hat-trick but in the end it was perfect, he scored a goal and off to a standing ovation.
After surgery with the doctor, he feels free now. He suffered last year with some problems but his whole game, not just scoring goals but his passing and his assists… he never stops!
When that happens, he is one of the best strikers in the world, without a doubt. Since he came back, in this period, in the Community Shield, against Arsenal and today, he has been perfect.
Given the level of speculation surrounding Aguero and his position in the City team over the last 48 hours, those comments should leave FPL managers in no doubt about the Argentinean’s importance to Guardiola and the City set-up.
Aguero had nine shots on goal in this match and no FPL forward has had more attempts on goal than the 30-year-old striker so far this season.
Guardiola reiterated after the match the importance of Benjamin Mendy (£6.1m) in the 3-5-2 set-up, a system that the City manager only rolled out once after the French left-back’s serious injury suffered at the beginning of 2017/18.
Last season Huddersfield played five at the back. We decided today, we would play with two strikers. All the players made a good performance. We could not attack in this way last year because we did not have Benjamin Mendy [due to a long-term injury], he is so clever to go up and down. When we have we are able to attack in that way.
While effusive in his praise of Mendy, Guardiola’s slightly tongue-in-cheek comments after the match hinted at the possible need to manage the wing-back’s minutes when City are back in midweek Champions League action:
He’s a guy who is full of energy, offensively and defensively and with the ball.
We know his physicality. Now, we have one game a week, we have time for recovery. I don’t know what will happen when we play every three days!
Mendy recorded a brace of assists for the second week running and played a big part in City’s second goal, with the loose ball from the Frenchman’s halted darting run being rifled home by Jesus. Mendy’s price will surely rise again this week, with the former Monaco left-back having already been bought by over 100,000 new managers since the Gameweek 2 deadline passed.
Although Walker was rested for the visit of Huddersfield (perhaps with Guardiola taking into consideration his World Cup exertions), the England wing-back would seem ideally suited to this 3-5-2 formation going forward. City’s shape off the ball on Sunday – with John Stones moving across to right-back as City became as 4-4-2 of sorts – is, however, an indication that there was also a possible tactical reason for Walker’s omission.
Mahrez and Sterling played centrally on occasion for their respective clubs last season so it is not necessarily a given that the pair couldn’t be integrated into such a set-up; Sterling, of course, was deployed as a striker for England in Russia in Gareth Southgate’s similar – albeit not quite as fluid – 3-5-2 system.
With Mahrez off the pitch and De Bruyne crocked, David Silva demonstrated his aptitude from dead-ball situations with a direct free-kick goal. Bernardo Silva (£7.6m), meanwhile, was mostly entrusted with corner-taking duties.
Huddersfield were without the injured Zanka (£4.5m) and Jonathan Hogg (£4.5m), while Aaron Mooy (£5.5m) missed the match with his wife in labour.
David Wagner sprung a few surprises in his bid to combat their hosts, deploying FPL defenders Jon Stankovic (£4.0m) and Florent Hadergjonaj (£4.5m) “out of position” in midfield.
Stankovic scored on his Premier League debut and could, depending on the severity of Hogg and Zanka’s injuries, be another bargain-bin defender to add to the short-term watchlist, particularly with the Terriers next at home against Cardiff City.
Wagner said after the match:
I’m pleased for Jon (Stankovic). It wasn’t easy for him in the last 12 months. We prepared him as a centre-back, but when City changed their shape to a three, he had to play alongside Philip Billing as ‘six’.
Aaron Mooy will be back for Cardiff. We also have to hope that Zanka and Jonathan Hogg will be back; we will make a decision on that later in the week.
The first-team prospects of the only £4.0m-rated goalkeeper to have started a Premier League fixture this season, Ben Hamer, might be in doubt after his display in this match, however. Hamer was particularly culpable for City’s third goal, shovelling a Mendy cross straight into the path of Aguero.
Manchester City XI (3-5-2): Ederson; Stones, Kompany, Laporte; Mendy, D Silva (Mahrez 64′), Fernandinho, Gundogan (Foden ’82), B Silva; Aguero (Sane 76′), Gabriel Jesus
Huddersfield Town XI (4-4-1-1): Hamer; Smith, Schindler, Kongolo, Lowe; Pritchard (Diakhaby 61′), Stankovic, Billing, Hadergjonaj; Sabiri (Depoitre 46′); Mounie (Sobhi’ 84)
Burnley 1-3 Watford
- Goals: James Tarkowski (£5.0m) | Andre Gray (£6.0m), Troy Deeney (£6.0m), Will Hughes (£5.0m)
- Assists: Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£6.0m) | Troy Deeney, Abdoulaye Doucoure (£6.0m)
With all the tactical tweaks and line-up changes going on at the Etihad, it was a Scout Notes writer’s dream to see two unchanged Premier League teams walk out at Turf Moor.
Burnley had the joint-best home defensive record outside of the top six last season, conceding on just 17 occasions in 19 matches on their own soil, but the first potential impact of their Europa League-influenced Thursday/Sunday schedule might have been evident on Sunday as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to the Hornets.
Although only Joe Hart (£4.5m), Stephen Ward (£5.0m) and Jeff Hendrick (£5.5m) of their starting XI today played the full 120 minutes against Istanbul Basaksehir, a further six of the team that faced the Hornets were also involved to varying degrees on Thursday evening.
Dyche though refused to blame the defeat on the Clarets’ hectic schedule and heavy legs:
It’s the story that started five months ago. It’s not new, but you’ll all run it, it’s your jobs. That’s the challenge, it’s here, it’s real, so that’s what we get on with.
The performances have been really good. First half we were very good, certainly the better side. Once they get 3-1 up, it’s difficult, at the end of the market, when teams have a two-goal swing.
The Clarets will again be in action on the next two Thursdays, taking on Olympiakos in a two-legged Europa League play-off less than 72 hours before matches against Fulham and Manchester United – something that will perhaps influence Fantasy managers’ decisions on whether to draft the likes of Hart, Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£6.0m) and Chris Wood (£6.5m) into their squads for Burnley’s appealing next half-dozen matches.
Gudmundsson, who registered more assists (nine) last season than anyone in the £6.0m or under price bracket, was the architect of yet another goal on Sunday afternoon, with one of his five corner-kick deliveries finding the head of James Tarkowski (£5.0m) for Burnley’s equaliser.
The Icelandic midfielder was also the most advanced Burnley player over the course of the 90 minutes, based on average positions.
To claim that Watford’s victory was down to their hosts’ weariness would be a disservice to an impressive Hornets’ side, though.
Javi Gracia’s well-organised “4-4-2 with inverted wingers” set-up once again allowed Jose Holebas (£4.6m) plenty of freedom to push forward from the left-back position, though he and the other hero of last weekend – Roberto Pereyra (£6.1m) – were to give up the stage for four other key players in Watford’s midfield/attack.
Troy Deeney and Andre Gray (both £6.0m) combined beautifully for the latter’s opening strike before Deeney got a goal of his own from Abdoulaye Doucoure‘s (£6.0m) sumptuous pass.
Speaking of his front pairing, Gracia said:
It’s good for our two forwards. They are doing a very good job, not only like today by scoring goals. They are creating difficulties for the centre-backs and today we have been able to keep the line a little bit higher.
Will Hughes, at £5.0m over one million pound cheaper than Pereyra in FPL, posed a bigger goal threat than his opposite wide-man and got a deserved goal on 51 minutes, punishing a sloppy pass from Matthew Lowton (£5.0m).
Crucially, Watford have now shaken off their away-day jinx under Gracia (this was his first win on the road) and they now face three successive home matches in the league with which to capitalise on their impressive start.
Burnley XI (4-5-1): Hart; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Ward (Taylor 74′); Lennon, Hendrick (Vokes 70′), Cork, Westwood, Gudmundsson; Wood (Barnes 65′)
Watford XI (4-4-2): Foster; Janmaat, Cathcart, Kabasele, Holebas; Hughes (Femenía 82′), Doucoure, Capoue, Pereyra; Gray (Sema 67′), Deeney (Success 88′)
Chelsea 3-2 Arsenal
- Goals: Pedro (£6.5m), Alvaro Morata (£9.0m), Marcos Alonso (£6.5m) | Alex Iwobi (£5.5m), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£7.0m)
- Assists: Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.5m), Eden Hazard (£10.5m) | Henrikh Mkhitaryan
After all the doom-mongering pre-season predictions about how life as an orthodox left-back in Maurizio Sarri’s 4-3-3 system would end his days as a worthwhile premium pick, Marcos Alonso (£6.5m) sits atop of the highest points-scorers’ table in FPL with only one match of Gameweek 2 remaining.
Alonso delivered his second successive double-digit return, registering a goal and assist in Chelsea’s 3-2 win over Arsenal to add to his 11-point haul in Gameweek 1.
The Spaniard had three attempts on goal in the win over the Gunners and made numerous overlapping runs past Willian (£7.5m) ahead of him, who would often cut inside to generate space for Alonso.
The introduction of Eden Hazard (£10.5m) arguably made him an even bigger threat in attack and it was the Belgian who found Alonso in the box with nine minutes remaining for the left-back to grab Chelsea’s winner.
Substitutes Hazard and Mateo Kovacic (£6.0m), the latter of whom completed 42 of his 43 passes, drew praise for their displays, though Sarri’s words after the match hinted that Willian and Ross Barkley‘s (£6.0m) starting positions might be safe for another week or so:
I am really very happy. But in my opinion, in this moment Kovacic and Hazard are not able to play for 90 minutes.
So I thought that it was better 25-30 minutes when the intensity of the game is going down, and Hazard has done two assists in two matches. So I am very happy, also because I think that Kovacic can improve a lot here.
While the Blues were potent in attack, the quarter of an hour of madness immediately before half-time would have been a worry for both Sarri and FPL managers who own a Chelsea defender.
Arsenal scored twice to peg the score back to 2-2 and looked in the ascendancy at half-time, having struggled to get into game for the first half-hour.
That Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£7.0m) created more chances than any other player at Stamford Bridge yesterday said much about Alonso’s failings defensively, though the Spaniard was not afforded a great deal of protection by the midfielders in front of him and wasn’t alone in his iffy showing at the back.
Speaking of his side’s defensive work, Sarri said:
We have to improve in the defensive phase, and I’m not talking about only the defenders. The defensive phase of all the team, all the players. If we press very high, we are able to do well. But, at the other moments, when we are not able to press in the other half, we are in trouble.
Pedro (£6.5m) scored his second goal of the season to open the scoring and was a threat all night, while Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.5m) and Alvaro Morata (£9.0m) demonstrated their almost telepathic understanding for Chelsea’s second goal. Azpilicueta, while not quite as gung-ho as Alonso on the opposite flank, made three key passes yesterday evening and now has seven assists since the start of 2017/18 – all seven of which were scored by Morata.
Jorginho (£5.1m) and N’Golo Kante (£5.0m) delivered eye-catching performances in midfield, meanwhile.
Jorginho was metronomic at the base of the central three, though the fact that not one of his 99 passes led directly to a chance says much about the Brazilian’s Fantasy appeal (the odd converted penalty aside).
Kante’s rebirth as a box-to-box midfielder continues to intrigue, however, with no player on either side having as many touches in the opposition area. The French midfielder also fired off three shots, though lacked conviction when presented with a goal-scoring opportunity.
Unai Emery was adventurous in his team selection, deploying Alex Iwobi (£5,5m) to the left of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) and stationing Mesut Ozil (£8.5m) in the hole.
Nacho Monreal (£5.5m), meanwhile, was fit enough to return at left-back.
The Gunners’ offensive performance for the second half of the opening 45 minutes would have encouraged FPL managers ahead of Arsenal’s appealing run of fixtures from Gameweeks 3-10, though, like Chelsea, their defence left much to be desired.
Iwobi’s display in particular, capped off by a goal, would have given Emery food for thought ahead of next week’s home encounter with West Ham United.
Mkhitaryan, meanwhile, delivered a double-digit return to further his case in the mid-price midfielder bracket.
Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan both spurned glorious opportunities, but the fact that Manchester City were the only side to carve out more “big chances” than the Gunners this weekend speaks volumes about their attacking menace. Iwobi’s goal involved ten Arsenal players and 19 passes, underscoring their fluency in attack at times yesterday.
Ozil was withdrawn midway through the second half after a somewhat underwhelming showing, though Emery backed the German midfielder in his post-match press conference:
We need him. He helps us with his quality and also I want to push him to be competitive in every match. I am happy with Mesut because he worked hard. I decided to change it because I think we needed a little more of a push in the middle, so that we couldn’t let Chelsea progress easily with the ball.
We were defending too deep and we needed a push, so for that I brought on Aaron [Ramsey] to push up more and recover the ball to continue attacking. I am happy with Mesut. With him, I am going to do the same work, help him and demand also that he works every day. At the moment he is doing that and I am happy. In the process, he is one player that I am sure is going to have a good season.
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Barkley (Kovacic 60′); Willian (Hazard 61′), Morata (Giroud 74′), Pedro
Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bellerin, Papastathopoulos, Mustafi, Monreal; Guendouzi, Xhaka (Torreira 46′); Mkhitaryan, Ozil (Ramsey 67′), Iwobi (Lacazette 74′); Aubameyang.
