Our next set of Scout Notes scrutinises yesterday afternoon’s 16:00 BST kick-offs from a Fantasy perspective.
Eden Hazard was on target from the spot as Chelsea ground out a 2-1 win over a stubborn Newcastle United side, while Marcos Alonso returned his third successive double-digit score of the season.
Two-goal Aleksandar Mitrovic was the undoubted star of Fulham’s 4-2 victory over Burnley, but some fine performances around him could potentially spell bad news for owners of Ryan Sessegnon.
The final Scout Notes article of Gameweek 3 will be posted on Tuesday morning, rounding up the goings-on at Old Trafford as Manchester United take on Tottenham Hotspur.
Newcastle United 1-2 Chelsea
- Goals: Joselu (£5.0m) | Eden Hazard (£10.5m), own-goal (DeAndre Yedlin)
- Assists: DeAndre Yedlin (£4.5m) | Marcos Alonso (£6.7m) x2
The first 75 minutes of action at St. James’ Park were a source of great frustration for anyone connected with Chelsea and the owners of their Fantasy Premier League assets.
To say Newcastle delivered a backs-to-the-wall performance in trying to stymie their visitors doesn’t quite do justice to the obdurate display Rafael Benitez’s side gave, with the hosts enjoying only 18% of the possession and making fewer successful passes combined than Jorginho (£5.1m) managed on his own.
Eden Hazard (£10.5m) and Mateo Kovacic (£6.0m) were given their first starts of the season in an otherwise unchanged Chelsea line-up, with both players lasting longer than the “50 or 60 minutes” that Maurizio Sarri had estimated in Friday’s press conference. Hazard, indeed, was still on the pitch at full-time.
Speaking of the Belgian midfielder’s performance, Sarri said afterwards:
I think he played very well. Maybe it would have been better for him in this moment to play 70 or 75 minutes, but after the first goal Kovacic asked me to make the substitution. So it was the preferred [option], so it was impossible for him to rest.
That a fully-fit Pedro (£6.6m), rather than Hazard, was the player hooked for Willian (£7.5m) on 69 minutes said much about Sarri’s faith in and reliance on the Belgian to unpick the Magpies’ defence, and gives the first hint that Pedro and Willian may once again be sharing their pitch-time this season.
Over 114,000 FPL managers had drafted Hazard into their sides ahead of Chelsea’s trip to the north-east, although for much of the match it looked like the transfer was a premature one.
Despite having more penalty box touches and attempts on goal than any player at St. James’ Park yesterday, Hazard failed to test Martin Dubravka (£5.0m) until his spot-kick late in the second half. Chelsea, indeed, only forced the Newcastle goalkeeper into two saves all match.
A contentious foul by Fabian Schar (£4.9m) on Marcos Alonso (£6.7m) changed the complexion of the game, however, and the outlook from a Fantasy perspective. Hazard converted the subsequent penalty, which, as expected, suggests Jorginho is to play second fiddle to the Belgian on spot-kick duties this season (the Brazilian midfielder having scored from 12 yards in Hazard’s absence on the opening weekend). With Jorginho not enjoying penalty-taking responsibilities, his appeal is hugely dented: the summer signing from Napoli has had no shots on goal this season from open play and has created just one chance in 270 minutes.
Alonso was to have the final say after Joselu (£5.0m) had somewhat unexpectedly drawn the scores level from DeAndre Yedlin‘s (£4.5m) cross: the Spanish left-back’s shanked shot deflecting in off Yedlin for Chelsea’s winner.
Alonso now has twice as many assists (four) as he managed in the whole of 2017/18 and is the leading FPL points-scorer after three successive scores of 11 or more. The Chelsea full-back has also racked up more bonus points (eight) than any Premier League player this season.
It could be argued that Alonso’s returns were somewhat fortuitous yesterday: despite collecting two assists, the Blues’ left-back didn’t create a single chance and not one of his crosses was successful. Alonso’s only shot on goal, meanwhile, was the one that Yedlin turned past his own goalkeeper.
That would perhaps be doing a disservice to how noticeably prominent Alonso was again in the final third, however, and fails to reflect just how much space was at a premium with Newcastle firmly camped in their own half.
From a defensive perspective, Chelsea are again a cause for concern. Despite showing precious little ambition in attack, Newcastle still found it all too easy to claw their way back into the game. After a shaky display against Arsenal last weekend, the Chelsea defence were once more denied a clean sheet when Yedlin was allowed to put in a cross unopposed (after an admittedly suspect foul on substitute Olivier Giroud) and Joselu rose past a ball-watching David Luiz (£5.5m) to nod home.
Anyone watching the match yesterday might have been put in mind of the ultra-defensive approach Benitez employed when Manchester City visited Tyneside in December 2017. While not easy on the eye and ultimately ending up in another defeat, the tactics at the very least limit their opposition to a handful of chances.
The strategy comes at a cost to their FPL midfielders and forwards’ goal threat, of course, and with Manchester City and Arsenal next up, we can expect Benitez to perhaps adopt a similar mentality in Gameweeks 4 and 5. United’s attacking assets, then, such as Kenedy (£5.0m) and Salomon Rondon (£5.9m) are perhaps best avoided for now – if anyone was maverick enough to consider them in the first place.
The television graphics before the match optimistically displayed United’s formation as 3-4-3, but it was soon blindingly obvious that this was a 5-4-1 that Benitez had sent out.
The formation change was something of a surprise, but the bigger shock was the personnel within that system – Benitez making six changes to the side that drew 0-0 with Cardiff City a week past Saturday.
Jamaal Lascelles (£5.0m) and Jonjo Shelvey (£5.5m) were the most notable omissions, with neither making the match-day squad. Speculation swirled on social media that the pair were overlooked for disciplinary reasons, but Benitez was quick to dismiss those rumours:
We had six players out of the team. Lejeune, Manquillo, Jamaal and Jonjo were injured, Kenedy couldn’t play obviously and Hayden was suspended and for us, it’s something that we have to consider.
For a team like us to lose six players is always a problem. Manquillo and Jamaal have ankle problems and Shelvey has a thigh problem. I think they will be fine.
Jonjo maybe will need a couple of weeks; Jamaal, Manquillo, hopefully, they can be fine for the next game.
Newcastle United XI (5-4-1):Â Dubravka; Yedlin, Fernandez, Schar (Muto 79′), Clark, Dummett; Ritchie, Diame, Ki, Murphy (Perez 74′); Rondon (Joselu 62′)
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic (Barkley 79′); Pedro (Willian 69′), Morata (Giroud 65′), Hazard
Fulham 4-2 Burnley
- Goals: Jean Michael Seri (£5.4m), Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.5m) x2, Andre Schurrle (£5.9m) | Jeff Hendrick (£5.5m), James Tarkowski (£5.0m)
- Assists: Luciano Vietto (£5.5m) x2, Tom Cairney (£4.9m), Aleksandar Mitrovic | Ben Mee (£5.0m)
While his former employers were toiling at St. James’ Park, Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.5m) was running riot in west London.
The Serbian striker scored his second and third goals of the season to join Sergio Aguero (£11.2m) at the top of the FPL forwards’ standings on 24 points.
The former Newcastle target-man also registered an assist for Andre Schurrle‘s (£5.9m) 82nd-minute strike after his shot cannoned back off the post and into the German international’s path.
Mitrovic’s 16-point haul could have been even greater, with the Fulham forward inches away from turning the dangerous Timothy Fosu-Mensah‘s (£4.5m) teasing low cross into an empty net.
Only Aguero has had more attempts on goal than Mitrovic among FPL forwards this season, while just three strikers have had more penalty box touches. The Serbian international is also currently the best value player in his position, delivering 3.7 points per million spent.
While Mitrovic’s goals will be the headline news, his all-round link-up play with Schurrle and Luciano Vietto (£5.5m) was eye-catching. That could potentially spell bad news for owners of Ryan Sessegnon (£6.4m), who was one of five players relegated to the bench by Slavisa Jokanovic yesterday.
Vietto was a surprise inclusion on the wing but overcame a nervy start to emerge from the hosts’ win with two assists and more key passes to his name than any player on show at Craven Cottage.
He and Schurrle switched flanks regularly and dovetailed superbly with Mitrovic, with Schurrle’s underlying attacking statistics worthy of note for those in the market for a mid-priced midfield asset: the former Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund midfielder had 11 shots in the win over Burnley, the most any player has attempted in a single Premier League match since the start of last season.
While much of the pre-season talk about Fulham’s midfield options centred around Sessegnon, Schurrle and Tom Cairney (£4.9m), the case of Jean Michael Seri (£5.4m) was perhaps overlooked. Seri scored on 12 occasions and registered 23 assists in 103 Ligue I appearances for Nice, and opened the scoring yesterday with an unstoppable long-range strike. Speaking of the Ivorian midfielder, Jokanovic said:
He surprised all of us with the goal, we expect he will make some assists.
He really scored a fantastic goal, for another side his characteristic suits well to our style and he interprets well how we want to play the football.
He’s one of the guys who is really comfortable in possession of the ball and with him we want to attack with some passes behind the defenders and we try with Vietto and Schurrle and Mitrovic too, sometimes not play only between the lines and attack behind the defenders and he is the guy who can deliver this pass.
Cairney, meanwhile, limped off late in the second half with an ankle injury, but Jokanovic was hopeful that the knock wasn’t too serious:
He has switched the ankle and we believe he will be available for the next game. This is the start of the season, it’s not so fortunate for us.
Between Alfie Mawson, Tim Ream, Floyd Ayite and I hope this player will be available for competition that is ahead of us.
Marcus Bettinelli (£4.4m) was a surprise selection in goal, meanwhile, with Fabri (£4.5m) dropping out. Denis Odoi (£4.5m) returned from suspension to take Calum Chambers‘ (£4.5m) place in the heart of the defence, while defensive midfielder Kevin McDonald (£4.5m) was preferred to new signing Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (£4.5m).
Burnley were unchanged for a third league match in a row, but while their starting XI has remained unaffected by their midweek European exploits, their performances seemingly have been impacted on.
It took nine Premier League matches last season for the Clarets to concede the number of goals they have shipped (seven) in 2018/19 and their defence looks like a no-go despite their favourable-looking forthcoming fixtures.
That being said, centre-backs James Tarkowski (£5.0m) and Ben Mee (£5.0m) delivered attacking returns to compensate for their loss of clean sheet, with the pair combining for Tarkowski’s second goal in as many league starts.
Charlie Taylor (£4.5m), meanwhile, is a budget pick to monitor. Listed as a defender in FPL, Taylor replaced the injured Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£6.0m) early in the first half, taking up a role on the left wing as he has done in Europe this season.
While a prognosis is awaited on Gudmundsson, the continued absence of Robbie Brady (£5.5m) and Steven Defour (£5.5m) means Dyche is not well-stocked with midfield replacements – something that could lead to a brief “out of position” run in the first team for Taylor.
Speaking of his crocked duo, Dyche said:
We thought they’d be around in pre-season and be ready at this stage, but they’re not.
And then working in the (transfer) market we tried for players and couldn’t get them in, so we are skinny on numbers at the minute.
Robbie is back on the grass but he needs a games’ programme. I’m a manager who expects players to be right to play, not plays them to get fit. He still needs a games’ programme together.
Taylor, who was handed a share of dead-ball duties on his introduction, delivered more crosses than any player at Craven Cottage yesterday and created more chances than any of his team-mates.
With Dyche persisting with a 4-5-1 for the third league match in a row, the case of Jeff Hendrick (£5.5m) has to be championed. Playing as the most advanced central midfielder and supporting Chris Wood (£6.5m) in attack, Hendrick scored the visitors’ first goal and had more shots than any Burnley player yesterday.
Fulham XI (4-3-3): Bettinelli; Fosu-Mensah, Odoi, Le Marchand, Bryan (Chambers 71′); Seri, McDonald, Cairney (Anguissa 78′); Schurrle (Sessegnon 89′), Mitrovic, Vietto
Burnley XI (4-5-1):Â Hart; Lowton, Mee, Tarkowski, Ward (Vokes 66′); Lennon, Cork, Westwood, Gudmundsson (Taylor 19′); Hendrick; Wood (Barnes 66′)
READ NEXT: Holebas and Pereyra on target in Watford’s third straight win.
Become a Member and access our data
Memberships for the 2018/19 campaign are now available for the price of £15.
Join now to get the following:
- Plot your transfer strategies using the fully interactive Season Ticker.
- Get projections for every Premier League player provided by the Rate My Team statistical model.
- Use Rate My Team throughout the season to guide your selections and transfers.
- Get access to over 130+ exclusive members articles over the season.
- Analyse our OPTA-powered statistic tables specifically tailored for Fantasy Football Managers.
- Use our exclusive tool to build custom stats tables from over 100 OPTA player and team stats.
- View heatmaps and expected goals data for every player.
- Use our powerful comparison tool to analyse players head-to-head.
