Sergio Aguero (£11.2m) lost the captaincy battle for Gameweek 3 as he failed to produce any attacking returns at Wolves.
It was the second time the Manchester City man had blanked this season but it is certainly not time to panic over his Fantasy credentials.
In this first Scout Notes article of Gameweek 3 we go over the key talking points from Saturday’s lunch-time kick-off.
READ NEXT: FPL talking points from matches at Arsenal, Bournemouth and Huddersfield
WOLVES 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY
Goals: Willy Boly (£4.5m) | Aymeric Laporte (£5.5m)
Assists: Joao Moutinho (£5.4m) | Ilkay Gundogan (£5.5m)
The 665,000+ Fantasy managers who signed Sergio Aguero (£11.2m) after his Gameweek 2 hat-trick were immediately disappointed by his latest performance. The Manchester City striker registered his second successive blank away from home this season, and is now without a league goal on the road since 13 December 2017. However, Aguero was unlucky not to see some attacking returns in this one after he struck the crossbar with a late free-kick. Furthermore, David Silva (£8.4m) was fouled in the penalty area in the second-half in what looked a spot-kick, which Aguero would have taken had it been given.
Crucially, Aguero looks to be slowly shaking off the rotation fear that has surrounded him for the last 18 months. He has now started the last three matches in a row, two of them away from home, which would suggest that he should no longer be considered as under threat from rotation as before. Of course, Pep Guardiola is capable of pulling the rug from under our feet at any given moment but we think Aguero is safe for now, especially compared to Gabriel Jesus (£10.5m) who has started just one match this season. The Argentinian should still be in our plans for Gameweek 4 when he faces a Newcastle side he has scored nine goals against in the last three home meetings with them.
There will be mixed feelings over Bernardo Silva (£7.6m) after a second successive blank for the midfielder. In one sense, he continued to prove himself as one of Guardiola’s favourite players as he also earned his third start to the campaign. However, after creating zero chances, it was Silva who was withdrawn just after the hour-mark to allow Jesus to come on in response to Wolves taking the lead. The Portuguese international still carries the advantage of his versatility when it comes to team selection. He has played in advanced positions twice now, once as a number 10 against Arsenal and on the right of a front three at Wolves. But we know after Gameweek 2 that it is possible for him to be consigned to right wing-back and see no goal involvements even in a big win.
David Silva (£8.4m) remains on free-kick duty for Man City but Ilkay Gündogan (£5.5m) reminded us that he is also in the equation. The German has started every match for the champions so far, registering 249 minutes and now has his first assist of the campaign.
Aymeric Laporte (£5.5m) finally delivered on his set piece threat in this match. As we pointed out last week, he had registered more attempts from dead ball situations than any of his team-mates coming into Gameweek 3. Given that he has started all three matches in a row now, with Vincent Kompany (£5.5m) replacing John Stones (£5.5m) at Molineux, his place in the side is looking fairly assured. If he continues to show set piece threat he could be used as a cheaper alternative to Mendy, for those who feel they’ve missed the boat on the full-back.
However, Mendy strengthened his appeal even more by taking two bonus points away from a match where he did not keep a clean sheet and was not involved in a goal. That brings his total for the season to five across three matches, not surprising when he is averaging a baseline bonus point every 3.3 minutes.
Meanwhile, the stock of options such as Riyad Mahrez (£8.9m), Leroy Sané (£9.4m) and Stones look set to plummet this week. The former Leicester man was named on the bench for the second week running and Sané is still yet to start in 2018/19. Meanwhile Kompany started ahead of Stones. Owners of the latter could consider Laporte as the replacement given his game-time and goal threat.
Wolves gave Manchester City quite a scare in this match and proved just how unlucky they had been in previous matches to concede so many. The reigning Championship title winners ranked second-best for expected goals conceded in the first two weeks of the campaign, and played exactly like a side that new how to handle Man City. Guardiola described their defence as “very organised” in his post-match press conference.
Rui Patricio (£4.5m) made a string of impressive saves and Willy Boly (£4.5m) made some crucial goal-stopping tackles in the face of City’s 18 shots. With home matches against Burnley, Southampton and Watford coming up for Wolves, both of those individuals could be useful in a defensive rotation, as could bargain man Ryan Bennett (£4.0m), who topped Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions in the match.
It was Boly who scored Wolves goal with his only effort of the match that admittedly was directed into the net via a handball. However, it was his first goal attempt of the season so he should not be considered a set piece target just yet.
Left-back Jonny (£4.5m) was forced off with injury late in the game, although there is no update on his condition yet. Rúben Vinagre (£4.5m) came on for him and would be the most likely to take his place if he is considered not fit for Gameweek 4.
WOLVES XI (3-4-3): Patrício; Boly, Coady, Bennett; Jonny (Vinagre 85’), Neves, Moutinho, Doherty; Jota, Jiménez, Costa (Traoré 72’).
MANCHESTER CITY XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Mendy, Laporte, Kompany, Walker; Fernandinho, Gündogan (Sané 77’), D Silva; Sterling (Mahrez 85’), Aguero, B Silva (Jesus 62’).
READ NEXT: FPL talking points from matches at Arsenal, Bournemouth and Huddersfield
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