Lacazette, Aubameyang and Kane score – but jury still out on FPL worth

Our final set of Scout Notes from the weekend’s fixtures concentrates on victories for the two north London sides.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.8m) and Alexandre Lacazette (£9.4m) both featured in Unai Emery’s starting XI for the third successive league match and the two Arsenal forwards scored in the Gunners’ 2-0 win over Everton on Sunday afternoon.

Talking of premium forwards, Harry Kane (£12.4m) registered his third league goal of the season and collected maximum bonus points as Tottenham Hotspur saw off Brighton and Hove Albion in the Saturday evening kick-off.

We round up all the goals, assists, injury news, manager quotes and Fantasy talking points from the Gameweek 6 matches at the Emirates and the Amex.

Arsenal 2-0 Everton

• Goals: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.8m), Alexandre Lacazette (£9.4m)
• Assists: Aaron Ramsey (£7.4m) x2

While the scoreline suggests a fairly routine victory for the hosts, this was anything but.

For the first 55 minutes of the Sunday tea-time match at the Emirates, Everton were largely the better side and that Petr Cech (£5.0m) emerged from the home win with a man of the match award, six FPL save points and maximum bonus underscores how much of a threat the Toffees were until Lacazette’s opener ten minutes into the second half.

This was Arsenal’s first clean sheet of the season, but it was due more to the solid performance of Cech between the sticks rather than any improvement that the defenders in front of him exhibited.

Indeed, just four top-flight clubs have conceded more shots on target than the Gunners this season and David de Gea (£5.9m) was the only goalkeeper to make more saves than Cech in Gameweek 6.

Unai Emery paid tribute to the Czech custodian after the match:

I’m a little surprised because there have been a lot of questions over Cech. In pre-season and also in the first matches with us, he’s played with good performances.

Bernd Leno will also improve with us and learn about this competition here. For him, he’s also doing very well and benefiting from working every day with a goalkeeper like Petr Cech. He’s learning from him, giving him experience and he’s watching him in games like today.

Leno is a younger goalkeeper and he is coming here with a big future, but now, it’s a very competitive position. Petr Cech is very important for us.

Unrest among the home crowd at the Emirates had been palpable until the deadlock was broken by Lacazette, who superbly curled home after an Aaron Ramsey (£7.4m) pass had found him on the left of the box.

Minutes later the lead was doubled, with Aubameyang – who looked suspiciously offside – converting Ramsey’s backheeled ball following a swift Arsenal counter-attack.

Those two assists were Ramsey’s first attacking returns of the season and were perhaps a tad fortunate, given the controversial nature of Aubameyang’s strike and that they came from the Welsh midfielder’s only two key passes of the match.

This was Ramsey’s fourth league match in a row in which he has started in “the hole” and the Wales international has certainly been prominent in the opposition area, registering more penalty box touches this season than all Arsenal players bar Lacazette.

While luck was perhaps on Ramsey’s side yesterday, an assist had been coming: only two FPL midfielders had created more chances in the last four Gameweeks.

The Welshman’s goal threat isn’t particularly strong, however: Ramsey managed just one effort on goal (from outside the box, too) against Everton and has only averaged a chance every 68 minutes since Arsenal’s fixtures “turned” for the better in Gameweek 3.

Mesut Ozil (£8.3m) once again flattered to deceive, meanwhile, failing to record a single shot on goal and only making two key passes all game.

We had discussed last weekend about needing to see more evidence from Ozil before he becomes a viable mid-price midfield option and there was little to further his cause at the Emirates yesterday. Indeed, the German’s performance on the right wing offers a glimmer of hope to the remaining owners of Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£7.0m), who missed out yesterday with an ankle injury.

Lacazette and Aubameyang scored from their only efforts from inside the Everton box, meanwhile, with the Gabonese striker also hitting the woodwork with an overhit cross.

Lacazette had reportedly been about to be substituted before his goal, too, as Emery acknowledged in his post-match presser:

We needed to change something in this moment to give us another individual quality on the pitch. Then we scored the goal and I decided to stop it and think again about who we need next.

On whether Lacazette was earmarked for the hook:

I don’t think it’s important, but maybe yes! Football is like that.

That goal arrived just in the nick of time, then, but the display of both players and the imminent withdrawal of Lacazette would have been a concern for their respective FPL owners.

Lacazette, as one would expect from the spearhead of the Arsenal frontline, remains the chief threat in attack from an underlying stats perspective, having registered more than twice as many penalty box touches than Aubameyang this season.

The Frenchman’s minutes-per-chance average is also better than Aubameyang’s by over six minutes.

The 1.5% of FPL managers who own Sokratis Papastathopolous (£5.3m) would have been cursing their luck on the occasion of Arsenal’s first clean sheet of the season, as the Greek centre-back was withdrawn on 39 minutes with a knee injury.

Emery gave an update on his defender’s condition after the match:

We don’t know now but the first analysis is that the doctors will wait until tomorrow. It’s his knee but I’m hoping it’s not too serious.

Rob Holding (£4.4m) was introduced in Sokratis’ place and the 23-year-old centre-back gave an assured performance alongside a shaky-looking Shkodran Mustafi (£5.4m), helping to limit Everton’s attacking threat in the second half in particular.

Should Sokratis be ruled out for any length of time, then Holding represents a bargain route into the Arsenal backline. The Gunners are second-top of our Season Ticker for defence over the next four Gameweeks, though whether any FPL manager would be willing to take a punt on an Arsenal defender based on the evidence of the first half-dozen matches of this season is another question.

Arsenal’s backline were run ragged by Richarlison (£6.6m) in the first half and the Brazilian’s performance on the left flank would have heartened his owners, particularly given that Fulham – without a clean sheet and having conceded more shots on target and big chances than any Premier League side this season – are next up at Goodison Park.

While he emerged from the match without an attacking return, Richarlison twice tested Cech in the Arsenal goal and fired another two efforts off target as he registered two times as many goal attempts as any other player on show at the Emirates.

Richarlison’s owners will also have been cursing Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m) for not squaring the ball to the Brazilian when clean through on goal in the second minute of the match.

Cech was out quick to deny Calvert-Lewin on that occasion and also rushed out to thwart Theo Walcott (£6.6m) on his return to the Emirates.

That was as good as it got for Walcott, who has registered only five attempts on goal in the last four Gameweeks.

Michael Keane (£4.9m) returned to the Everton defence and demonstrated his attacking threat from dead-ball situations, recording two headed attempts from set plays – one of which forced Cech into a fine low stop.

Keane’s minutes-per-chance mean is second only to that of Marcos Alonso‘s (£6.9m) among FPL defenders with a start to their name this season, but Everton’s porous backline makes advocating a case for his inclusion in our squads a non-starter at the moment.

The Toffees are one of only three Premier League sides without a clean sheet this season and indeed a Marco Silva-managed side has not recorded a shut-out in 17 top-flight fixtures.

That is of huge frustration regarding not only Keane’s Fantasy potential but also that of Lucas Digne (£4.8m).

Having started the last three league matches at left-back ahead of Leighton Baines (£5.3m), Digne’s attacking potential has caught the eye in recent weeks.

The Frenchman highlighted his strength at set-piece situations by forcing Cech into a flying save from a direct free-kick, while no player on either side delivered as many crosses as Digne yesterday.

Only Nacho Monreal (£5.5m) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.4m) had more touches in the opposition final third than the former Barcelona left-back, meanwhile.

If Everton can somehow regain some defensive solidity over the coming weeks, perhaps with the return to fitness of Seamus Coleman (£5.3m) and Yerry Mina (£5.4m), then Digne is one to watch: no defender with more than 100 minutes to their name this season has a better rate of minutes-per-Baseline BPS than the Everton left-back.

Silva had made three changes to his Everton line-up for this match, with Tom Davies (£5.3m), Richarlison and Keane replacing Morgan Schneiderlin (£4.5m), Cenk Tosun (£6.9m) and Mason Holgate (£4.5m). Calvert-Lewin thus moved up front, with Richarlison playing as expected on the left flank of a 4-2-3-1.

Emery, meanwhile, made only one alteration to his starting XI from the side that beat Newcastle United: Lucas Torreira (£4.9m) in for Matteo Guendouzi (£4.5m) in the double-pivot.

Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis (Holding 38′), Monreal; Xhaka, Torreira; Ozil, Ramsey (Welbeck 79′), Aubameyang (Iwobi 67′); Lacazette

Everton XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Kenny, Keane, Zouma, Digne; Gueye, Davies; Walcott (Bernard 71′), Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Calvert-Lewin (Tosun 71′)

Brighton and Hove Albion 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

• Goals: Anthony Knockaert (£5.5m) | Harry Kane (£12.4m), Erik Lamela (£6.4m)
• Assists: Shane Duffy (£4.5m) | Kieran Trippier (£6.0m), Danny Rose (£5.9m)

While still far from his best and looking borderline lethargic at times, Harry Kane is at least starting to post the sort of healthy underlying attacking statistics that caught the eye last season.

Kane registered more than twice as many penalty box touches as any player on show at the Amex and recorded five shots on goal, the most he has managed in a single Gameweek of 2018/19 so far.

Crucially, only one of those efforts was off target and the Spurs striker was able to walk off with all three bonus points after converting a 41st-minute penalty to give the Lilywhites the lead.

Sergio Aguero (£11.4m) and Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) are now the only two forwards who have scored more FPL points this season than Kane, but in truth, non-owners are perhaps going to need to see a lot more from the Spurs man before they consider transfer strategies to bring the World Cup Golden Boot winner into their squads.

Kane, indeed, has only scored two or more goals in a Premier League fixture once (on the final day of 2017/18) since mid-January.

The Spurs striker currently ranks 19th among FPL forwards for value for money, returning 2.5 points per million spent.

That being said, there were one or two positive signs in the second half of the win over Brighton, with Kane driving at the home defence on three occasions and forcing Matthew Ryan (£4.5m) into a hat-trick of saves.

Kane, indeed, was upbeat about his own performance in his post-match interview:

I have scored three goals this season which is not terrible. Obviously, when you set standards in other seasons and other games, people will talk if you do not reach them and I am the first to analyse my game and see what I could do better.

Of course, I feel I could have done better in most games this season. Brighton was probably the first game I was truly happy with my all-round performance.

I felt good. As a striker, you are going to be under the microscope more than everyone else.

That is the life of the striker. You will get chances, miss chances, feel you can hold it up better. All you can do is look forward and try and improve.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino also heaped praise on his striker, illustrating just how secure Kane’s position is in the north London side’s starting XI:

Always for me, Harry is one of the best. He is one of the best players in our team. I don’t have doubt.

It’s always a guarantee to have him on the pitch because he’s a special player. For me, he’s a great player, not today because he scored. When he didn’t score in the past it was the same.

Kane, meanwhile, dismissed suggestions that the Spurs squad is struggling after their collective World Cup exertions over the summer:

A lot of us played in the World Cup and a lot of people have been talking about that but we all feel fit and sharp.

It is important we proved that. A lot of people speak about tiredness and fatigue but we all feel fine. We all feel good.

The evidence pointed to the contrary in an otherwise unremarkable first half, Toby Alderweireld‘s (£5.9m) header from a Kieran Trippier (£6.0m) corner the only time either goalkeeper was called into action before Kane’s opener.

Were it not for the irksome rotation policy that Pochettino traditionally employs in the full-back department, Trippier would be an even more popular FPL asset than he currently is. Trippier’s ownership of 27.2% – the third-highest among defenders – has to be put in context, of course, given that the Spurs defender was the most-popular defensive asset before a ball was kicked (in part attributable to his World Cup performances) and he will now be sitting in countless “ghost teams”.

Five league starts on the spin, however, has seen his FPL popularity among active managers increase steadily since Gameweek 2 and the England right-back will also have attracted investment from some of those ditching Benjamin Mendy (£6.4m) ahead of the weekend just gone.

Interest in Trippier from an attacking perspective is understandable: the Spurs full-back took six corners at the Amex on Saturday evening and registered a “Fantasy assist” when his goal-bound free-kick was handled by Glenn Murray (£6.5m) in the Brighton box, allowing Kane to score from 12 yards.

Trippier whipped in over twice as many deliveries as the next-best Spurs player, meanwhile, and trails only Jose Holebas (£4.9m) among FPL defenders for crosses this season.

Trippier is also creating chances at almost exactly the same rate as he was last season, a campaign in which he racked up seven assists.

The threat of Serge Aurier (£5.8m) starting in his stead on any given week remains too off-putting for some, however, particularly in a season where rotation is wreaking havoc elsewhere. That Trippier looked unconvincing from a defensive point of view against Brighton is also a slight concern, with Aurier (Inter’s winning goal apart) putting in a decent shift in Milan last week.

Fantasy bosses need only look to the opposite flank for discouragement, where Ben Davies (£5.7m) and Danny Rose (£5.9m) have started three matches apiece in the league this season.

Rose got the nod on Saturday and set up Tottenham’s second goal, which was turned in by substitute Erik Lamela (£6.4m) after a Spurs break.

Rose, Trippier and the Spurs defence were denied a clean sheet at the last, when Anthony Knockaert (£5.5m) shot past Paulo Gazzaniga (£4.5m) to give the Seagulls a glimmer of hope.

Spurs have registered only one clean sheet this season (away at Manchester United) and on current form are far from the reliable performers at the back that we have become accustomed to in recent seasons.

The manner of that consolation goal particularly irked Pochettino, who was otherwise positive about his team’s performance:

For everyone who watched the game, they were wondering what we were doing. The way we conceded was crazy. One minute from the end, we should be more vigilant and focused.

To allow them in that position, it is painful to concede. We won but need to work and realise we can not concede this type of goal.

Gazzaniga in for the injured Michel Vorm (£4.9m) was one of two changes Pochettino made to his starting XI from the defeat to Liverpool, with Son Heung-min (£8.3m) replacing Harry Winks (£5.5m) and lining up on the left of midfield in a 4-2-3-1.

The Spurs manager reserved special praise for this third-choice goalkeeper – who had a steady game – after the match:

Paulo did very well. I’m so happy. His performance was fantastic. To play in those conditions…the team was fantastic but the goalkeeper is a difficult job and he showed great qualities.

Lucas Moura (£7.4m) had a quiet evening by his standards, registering only one shot on goal and one key pass. Christian Eriksen (£9.3m), meanwhile, went close with a long-range shot in the second half but was not his usual creative self and left the south coast without an attacking return – the Danish midfielder has yet to score in the league this season.

Brighton, meanwhile, were unable to peg back a two-goal deficit for the third match in a row, though Knockaert came close to rescuing a point a minute after scoring the Seagulls’ consolation effort.

The Brighton winger also spurned a great opportunity earlier in the match when shooting straight at Gazzaniga from six yards, but Knockaert was otherwise Brighton’s stand-out player on the right flank.

From Gameweek 8 onwards, Brighton enjoy a run of nine fixtures in which they avoid any of the “big six”. At £5.5m, Knockaert appears an excellent option in the mid-price midfield bracket.

We had pointed out last Tuesday that Knockaert’s rate of key passes hadn’t improved much on last season despite his three assists, but that minutes-per-chance created average moved in the right direction this Gameweek as he created as many opportunities for his team-mates as the rest of the Brighton side combined.

Pascal Gross‘s (£6.8m) injury-enforced absence is benefitting Knockaert at the moment as he has assumed the role of set-piece specialist in the German’s absence – though whether that will still be the case upon Gross’s return to the side remains to be seen.

Knockaert’s goal threat is more potent, however, with his minutes-per-chance average improving by over 20% on last season.

The Brighton star had, of course, several mitigating factors for his performances and attacking returns last season, as he revealed in a very personal interview this week:

I was going through depression last year, it was really tough and mentally impossible for me to go and perform on the pitch.

I went through a divorce last year during the pre-season, so it was really tough to take, especially after (the death of) my dad.

There were times I wasn’t even focused on the pitch and thinking about the game.

Brighton, who were unchanged coming into this match, were dealt an early blow when they lost Dale Stephens (£4.4m) to injury early in the first half.

Speaking of his crocked midfielder, Chris Hughton said:

It’s a blow because he’s a very good player for us and we have to adjust. I thought Beram [Kayal] showed really good energy when he came on, particularly with the three we had in the middle of the park.

That gave us an opportunity to press high, but in that central position, particularly with [Yves] Bissouma still feeling his feet and becoming accustomed to the way we want to play, it was a blow.

It’s something that he felt, so he had to come off. All we can hope for is that it’s not as bad as we first thought.

Murray was shackled well by the Spurs defenders and didn’t manage a single shot on goal, though wasn’t helped by the somewhat pragmatic approach that Hughton took before Spurs opened the scoring.

Discussing his tactics, Hughton said:

These are the type of games that if you’re too brave, they can open you up. There are different ways to win games, and what we have to do is determine, tactically, the best way to do that.

They have top quality players and when you’re that close to pitch level, you see their qualities and the ways they can play through midfield.

But I genuinely feel that without a penalty in the first half, we would have gone in at 0-0 with the opportunity to get stronger in the second half.

We’ll go through the game and pick things out that we could have done better, but it’s very difficult against the level of players we were up against.

As with Knockaert, Murray will face easier tests to come during that run of fixtures from Gameweek 8 onwards and looks a decent mid-price striking option from October to mid-December, though the return to fitness of Florin Andone (£5.0m) – on the bench for the first time this season at the Amex on Saturday – provides competition in attack.

Brighton XI (4-5-1): Ryan; Montoya, Dunk, Duffy, Bong; Stephens (Kayal 22′), Knockaert, Bissouma (Locadia 79′), Propper, March (Jahanbakhsh 73′); Murray

Tottenham XI (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dembele, Dier; Moura (Alli 77′), Eriksen, Son (Lamela 68′); Kane

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