Manchester City fell to a surprise home defeat to Lyon on Wednesday evening but for many Fantasy managers, this UEFA Champions League group match was less significant for the result and more for the involvement (or lack thereof) of two widely owned players.
Sergio Aguero (£11.4m), who had picked up an ankle injury in the 3-0 win over Fulham last Saturday, was fit enough for a place on the bench and emerged as a second-half substitute to ease the concerns of the 50.4% of Fantasy Premier League managers who own the Argentinian forward.
Benjamin Mendy (£6.5m), however, wasn’t part of the matchday squad and his myriad owners will face a nervous wait over the coming 48 hours for updates on the crocked left-back ahead of the Gameweek 6 deadline on Saturday morning.
Their cross-city rivals breezed past Young Boys, meanwhile, with Paul Pogba (£8.2m) scoring two goals – one from the spot – and setting up Manchester United’s third strike in a comfortable 3-0 win in Switzerland.
We discuss the main FPL talking points from two Champions League matches contested yesterday evening.
Manchester City 1-2 Lyon
- Goal: Bernardo Silva (£7.5m)
- Assist: Leroy Sane (£9.2m)
While not tearing up any trees upon his introduction as a 63rd-minute substitute, Sergio Aguero looked unaffected by the ankle knock that forced his early withdrawal at the Etihad last Saturday and would seem set to return to contention for a starting spot ahead of the trip to Cardiff City this weekend.
Aguero was twice denied by smart stops from Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, one of which came after a solo run into the penalty box that was reminiscent of his title-winning goal against Queens Park Rangers six years ago.
The prospects of the Argentinean forward, owned by more FPL managers than any other player, starting the forthcoming match against Neil Warnock’s side would also have been aided by the performance of Gabriel Jesus (£10.4m), who offered little of note as the spearhead of the City attack.
Jesus was not alone in producing a below-par display and the struggles of Fabian Delph (£5.3m) at left-back would have at least heartened Benjamin Mendy‘s (£6.5m) owners in the Frenchman’s absence.
Delph was culpable for Lyon’s opening goal, his air-kick allowing Maxwell Cornet to convert Nabil Fekir’s cross.
The England international offered little going forward, meanwhile, save for three shots from distance that never really troubled Lopes.
There were frustratingly no updates given on Mendy’s condition either before or after the match, with the hopes of some two million FPL managers now pinned on an unambiguous brief given by Pep Guardiola in his pre-match press conference on Friday – not something we’re accustomed to, especially with parts of the presser likely to be embargoed again.
That Leroy Sane (£9.2m) was rested to the bench and only played 35 minutes of last night’s defeat might be significant: the German winger offers natural width on the left flank and tends to be used in the Premier League when Mendy is not (the win over Fulham was Sane’s first league start of the season and the first match that the City left-back has missed).
In August, Guardiola had this to say about Sane’s omission from the City side:
We have six excellent strikers and not all of them can play. It is not about he [Sane] is not playing because we are unhappy with his performance, it’s because we have to choose and now Mendy is playing more wide. That is the reason why.
The only league fixture that Mendy and Sane started together in an admittedly injury-plagued 2017/18 was the win over Crystal Palace in September, the match in which Mendy suffered his season-ruining knee injury. Their opponents were rock bottom of the league and without a point or goal to their name at the time, which would perhaps rationalise Guardiola’s gung-ho approach down that left flank.
Sane was impressive upon his introduction at the Etihad last night, claiming an assist for City’s only goal after jinking down the wing and supplying a cut-back for Bernardo Silva (£7.5m) to convert.
Sane should have himself rescued a point when presented with a free header from a Riyad Mahrez (£8.7m) cross, but the German international – not renowned for his aerial prowess – fluffed his lines.
Those who own Bernardo and David Silva (£8.5m) may have been slightly concerned that the pair played the full 90 minutes less than 72 hours before City travel to Cardiff, though the pair at least (seemingly) came through the midweek test unscathed.
Bernardo had started the game wide on the right in a 4-3-3, with Raheem Sterling (£11.0m) on the opposite flank and David Silva playing centrally ahead of Ilkay Gundogan (£5.5m) and Fernandinho (£5.4m) – the Brazilian uncharacteristically poor and giving away possession for both of Lyon’s goals.
Sane’s introduction saw City move to a 4-1-4-1, with Fernadinho stationed in front of the back four and the two Silvas playing centrally ahead of him. Sterling moved over to the right flank to accommodate Sane’s arrival, meanwhile.
Those thinking of trading in Mendy for a straight switch to another City defender would have been concerned by how often Lyon breached the hosts’ high line, while Kyle Walker (£6.5m) and Aymeric Laporte (£5.6m) – the two most-bought City defenders of this round – played the full 90 minutes at the Etihad. Laporte, who already has a league goal to his name this season, demonstrated his aerial threat by heading against the post from a corner-kick routine in the first half.
Manchester City XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Delph; Fernandinho, Gundogan (Sane 55′), D Silva; B Silva, Jesus (Aguero 63′), Sterling (Mahrez 76′)
Young Boys 0-3 Manchester United
- Goals: Paul Pogba (£8.2m) x2, Anthony Martial (£7.2m)
- Assists: Luke Shaw (£5.1m), Paul Pogba
After three Premier League matches without an attacking return, Paul Pogba had been heading in the direction of a price drop this week having suffered close to 60,000 sales.
A brace of goals and an assist in United’s 3-0 win over Young Boys on Wednesday evening, however, served a timely reminder of his Fantasy potential with Jose Mourinho’s side sitting the near the top of our Season Ticker for the next six Gameweeks.
Perhaps significantly, too, Pogba remains on spot-kick duties despite his miss from 12 yards in the Gameweek 4 win over Burnley: the French midfielder’s second goal last night was a penalty awarded for a handball that Luke Shaw (£5.1m) forced with a left-wing cross.
After the match, Pogba thanked his manager for letting him remain on penalty-taking duties:
I didn’t have any doubts about taking the penalty. I know I missed that one against Burnley – Joe Hart got me that time – but I won’t do the same mistake.
I had the confidence of the players, they let me take it and I should thank them for this, as well as the manager – he let me take.
Mourinho also praised his player’s mental strength after full-time:
I like the player to have the courage to take a penalty after one that he missed.
He missed against Burnley. The next penalty the team has, he is there to take it, to make it 2-0 and to kill the game for us.
Pogba’s first goal underscored his threat from open play, the World Cup-winning midfielder collecting the ball after Fred (£5.8m) was tackled and rifling high into home goalkeeper David von Ballmoos’s net from just inside the Young Boys box.
Only two midfielders have had more goal attempts in the league this season than Pogba, who sits level with Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) and Sadio Mane (£10.0m) for shots on target.
Mourinho actually downplayed his influential midfielder’s goal threat in his post-match interview, however:
I don’t think he can score goals every match. But the goal he scored today, first of all, is not different than the fantastic save [Ben] Foster had in the last match [at Watford], so if he starts arriving in possible scoring positions that can be a plus for the team. So I’m happy with that.
The team had good stability in midfield to allow him to go to these kind of positions and I’m happy with the good, solid performance of the team more than any individual.
Despite Mourinho’s positive comments about the midfield, United arguably missed the rested Marouane Fellaini (£5.0m) in the first half, with Victor Lindelof (£4.9m) shaky at centre-back and Fred putting in a fairly uninspired performance in the engine room.
Young Boys had actually started the better of the two sides until Pogba’s opener and United were indebted to another solid performance between the sticks from David de Gea (£5.9m) at times – the Spanish custodian saved all four of the shots on target that the Swiss outfit could muster.
Guillaume Hoarau headed narrowly wide for Young Boys in the first half while Mohamed Ali Camara hit the post from close range late on as United emerged from their Champions League Group H opener with a somewhat fortuitous clean sheet.
Shaw, back in the side at left-back after his concussion, would have collected a “Fantasy assist” in FPL for his role in Pogba’s penalty and went close to registering another when Marcus Rashford (£6.7m) turned his cross onto the post.
The United full-back’s excellent display gives Mourinho – and Shaw’s Fantasy owners – something of a headache for Gameweek 6 given that he played the full 90 minutes less than 72 hours before the Red Devils take on Wolves. The United boss had earlier in the week highlighted his need for two options at left-back and there remains the possibility that Ashley Young (£5.8m) may get the nod against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side this weekend.
Mourinho had also talked up Young’s abilities as a right-back but the excellent debut performance of Diogo Dalot (£5.4m) in that position would surely suggest that the veteran England international’s chances will be limited in that role, with Antonio Valencia (£6.5m) still a favourite of Mourinho’s.
Chris Smalling (£5.8m), once again paired with Lindelof at centre-back, paid tribute to Dalot after the match:
We’ve been seeing it all in training. You can see the quality of his crosses and he’s got that engine up and down, which is everything we want in a right-back.
Mourinho hailed both of his full-backs, meanwhile, in an interview after full-time:
I want to be also nice to Luke [Shaw] because I think both play at the same level. I think Diogo and Shaw, they played very, very, well.
Our danger came from both, both of them. They had fantastic movement, they had depth, they had crosses, they had assists. They were involved in the most dangerous actions and they defended also well. So I think both of them, they were very, very good.
But of course Luke is here for a few years, he’s playing since the beginning of the season and for Diogo first match for the club after a knee surgery. I think very good, solid performance.
I think everyone could see the potential and everyone could see that he’s a 19-year-old player who has more than 10 years to play for Manchester United.
Dalot then might be one to watch in the medium term from a Fantasy perspective, though with such competition in the full-back department – Valencia wasn’t risked for this game due to the Swiss side’s artificial pitch – and Shaw available for less money the teenager remains far from our thoughts at the present.
The so-so displays of Rashford and Anthony Martial (£7.2m) – whose deflected goal Pogba set up – on the flanks will surely mean that Jesse Lingard (£6.8m) and Alexis Sanchez (£10.2m) will resume their roles either side of Romelu Lukaku (£11.0m) when Wolves visit Old Trafford this weekend. Rashford, indeed, will be suspended for that fixture.
Lukaku had little joy in attack though did find the back of the net late on – his strike from Dalot’s cross being correctly ruled out for offside.
Manchester United XI (4-3-3): De Gea; Dalot, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw; Pogba (Pereira 75′), Matic, Fred (Fellaini 69′); Rashford (Mata 69′), Lukaku, Martial
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