Our second set of Scout Notes from Tuesday evening’s Carabao Cup matches concentrates on the ties involving Bournemouth, Burnley and Fulham.
Part one of our League Cup round-up, which looked at the fortunes of both Manchester clubs, Wolves, Leicester City and Crystal Palace, can be found here.
Callum Wilson (£6.3m) came off the bench to grab Bournemouth’s stoppage-time winner, while there were goals for both of Fulham’s wing-backs as Slavisa Jokanovic experimented with his formation.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m) once again proved a threat from the flank with his fourth assist of the season, but Burnley bowed out of their second cup competition of 2018/19 despite Sean Dyche naming a strong side against Burton Albion.
Bournemouth 3-2 Blackburn Rovers
- Goals: Junior Stanislas (£6.0m), Jordon Ibe (£5.2m), Callum Wilson (£6.4m)
- Assists: Simon Francis (£4.4m), Marc Pugh (£4.4m)
Junior Stanislas (£6.0m) and Jordon Ibe (£5.2m) capped off fine displays on the flanks against Blackburn with one goal apiece to put pressure on Bournemouth’s current first-team wingers.
Given the excellent form of Ryan Fraser (£5.9m), of course, David Brooks (£5.0m) looks by far the most vulnerable of the two from Ibe and the fit-again Stanislas.
Stanislas, who came off the bench in the Cherries’ 4-0 defeat at Burnley on Saturday, made his first senior Bournemouth start in six months and half-volleyed Eddie Howe’s side into an early lead after a Simon Francis (£4.4m) cut-back.
Howe was effusive in his praise of Stanislas after the match:
Junior will be delighted with his goal as well, it caps off what’s been a really impressive comeback from training. It was a great finish, superb goal. It wasn’t an easy ball to hit coming off the floor.
It’s typical Junior – he’s excellent and has come back in such a good physical frame and I wasn’t surprised by his performance.
Ibe, meanwhile, won and converted a penalty to give the Cherries a 2-0 lead just before the hour mark. Ibe and Stanislas both registered another three attempts on goal each as they featured prominently in the home attack.
Lys Mousset (£5.0m) and Jermain Defoe (£5.7m) did little to further their cases for a start in the first team against Crystal Palace next Monday, both drawing a blank and being replaced by Josh King (£6.3m) and Wilson in the second half as Bournemouth chased a winner after being pegged back to 2-2.
Defoe had seven attempts on goal without success, while his replacement, Wilson, scored the Cherries’ winner from a Marc Pugh (£4.4m) corner with his only effort in a 14-minute cameo.
Wilson was also denied a clear goalscoring opportunity by a Derrick Williams handball minutes before the late winning goal, which led to the Rovers’ defender’s dismissal.
Howe paid tribute to Wilson, who has been directly involved in six of the Cherries’ ten league goals this season, after full-time:
Wilson’s done well with his head this year. I think back to his header against Everton which hit the post and led to Nathan Ake’s goal. He’s got that in his game, I think he’s always been decent in the air and from crosses. He’s a goal threat overall and he’ll be pleased with the goal.
Any striker would say they need a variety of goals. If you just rely on one type of finish then you’re one-dimensional. He can score headed goals as well as getting in situations by using his pace. It’s a vital part of any striker’s makeup.
Jefferson Lerma and Adam Smith (£4.5m) were the only two survivors from the Bournemouth side that lost 4-0 to Burnley, with Smith switching over to left-back to allow Simon Francis (£4.4m) a run-out at right-back.
Lerma was culpable for Rovers’ first goal when he was caught in possession, while Tyrone Mings’ (£4.4m) rash challenge led to Blackburn’s equaliser from the spot.
That the Cherries have conceded six goals in their last two matches perhaps shows how much they have missed Dan Gosling‘s (£5.0m) unsung protective work in the middle of the park over the last four days. Bournemouth conceded three big chances to Burnley on Saturday (they had previously only allowed four all season) and that they shipped two goals to Championship opposition at home last night is a possible good omen for owners of Crystal Palace’s attacking assets when the Eagles head to the south coast next Monday.
Gosling was again missing with a minor calf injury, while Charlie Daniels (£4.3m) was another absentee with a knee problem.
Howe gave an update on Daniels’ condition yesterday:
At the moment, he is on his way back.
He is in the phase between the physios and the sports science team, where he is building his tolerance up to the pain levels he has been feeling.
He is not 100 per cent back with the sports science team yet. He is not totally injury-free and is still feeling something but it is improving every day.
Bournemouth XI: Boruc; Francis, Simpson, Mings, A Smith; Ibe, L Cook, Lerma, Stanislas (Pugh 69′); Defoe (Wilson 73′), Mousset (King 69′)
Millwall 1-3 Fulham
- Goals: Joe Bryan (£4.9m), Luca de la Torre, Cyrus Christie (£4.4m)
- Assists: Luca de la Torre x2, Floyd Ayite £4.4m)
Tim Ream (£4.3m) returned to the Fulham starting XI for the first time this season after a lengthy injury lay-off and played just over an hour of the Cottagers’ 3-1 win over Millwall.
Fulham have struggled defensively this season and are without a league clean sheet, having also conceded more big chances and shots on target than any Premier League side. Slavisa Jokanovic hooked Alfie Mawson (£5.0m) at half-time of the 1-1 draw with Watford on Saturday and Ream’s return to fitness at centre-back could be a significant one, given the role he played in the Cottagers’ promotion-winning campaign of 2017/18.
Ream played as part of a back three alongside Steven Sessegnon and Maxime Le Marchand (£4.4m) as Jokanovic changed formation for the first time this season, rolling out a 3-4-3 with Cyrus Christie (£4.4m) and Joe Bryan (£4.9m) on the flanks.
The two wing-backs capped their performances with goals, both of which were teed up by American midfielder Luca de la Torre, who joined Floyd Ayite and Aboubakar Kamara (both £4.4m) in a fluid three-man attack.
De la Torre, who has only five league starts to his name in over two years with the west London club, also grabbed a goal of his own with a strike just after the interval.
Jokanovic paid tribute to the 20-year-old American international after the match and hinted that the youngster could be given more game time in the future:
He played well. Two assists, one goal. I didn’t have space to give him so many chances but he never stops pushing forward and he showed the personality and professionalism at the training ground.
He is enjoying scoring his first goal, like Joe Bryan who played very good too, and we will find some conclusion and see how we can use different players in different moments or in different shapes.
We are open for all the variations during the year and we will check if some of the options can play this way or not in the future.
It depends on many things. Luca is strong, healthy and pushes really strong, waiting for the chance.
I cannot promise anything, but he showed many positive things.
When asked if yesterday’s move away from 4-3-3 was an attempt to solve Fulham’s “defensive crisis”, Jokanovic said:
What crisis? I am not thinking about a crisis, this is a strong word and after four years [away from] and six games in the Premier League, if we start thinking about some kind of crisis of the defensive or offensive crisis we are so depressed people.
Today we played well and last game against Watford. If you mention this kind of game first half we have some problems but second half we fix the defensive problem.
I try to find a solution, it can be one of the options.
The shape today worked well enough and we are open to variation. We’ll check whether we can play with this shape in the future.
Kevin McDonald (£4.4m) was the only Fulham player who kept his place from that draw at Vicarage Road, with the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic (£7.0m), Andre Schurrle (£5.9m) and Ryan Sessegnon (£6.2m) either unused substitutes or rested altogether.
Tom Cairney (£4.8m) once again missed out with an ankle problem.
Fulham XI (3-4-3): Rico; S. Sessegnon, Ream (Odoi 62′), Le Marchand; Christie, McDonald, Zambo, Bryan; de la Torre (O’Riley 85′), Kamara, Ayite (Elliott 81′).
Burton Albion 2-1 Burnley
- Goal: Kevin Long (£4.0m)
- Assist: Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m)
Despite making the fewest number of changes to his starting XI of any Premier League manager on Tuesday evening, Sean Dyche saw his Burnley side bow out of the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle with a defeat to League One club Burton Albion.
Five players kept their places from the win over Bournemouth, while there were recalls for the likes of Chris Wood (£6.3m), Tom Heaton (£4.9m) and the fit-again Steven Defour (£5.4m) in a strong-looking Clarets’ starting XI.
Burnley face Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town next in the league and Johann Berg Gudmundsson highlighted his potential as a short-term FPL punt by supplying a pinpoint corner-kick delivery onto the head of Kevin Long (£4.0m) to give the Clarets the lead just before the interval.
Gudmundsson has three assists in the league already this season, having registered nine in 2017/18.
The Icelandic international also forced home goalkeeper Dimitar Evtimov into a low save in the second half, having had two efforts blocked in the opening 45 minutes.
Wood and Ashley Westwood (£4.5m) also wasted decent opportunities for the visitors, while substitute Ashley Barnes (£5.7m) hit the upright a minute after his introduction.
Joe Hart‘s (£4.5m) status as the Clarets’ first-choice goalkeeper appears unchanged after this defeat, with Heaton culpable for Albion’s equaliser when letting an admittedly well-struck shot from Liam Boyce slipped through his grasp.
Dyche was critical of his players’ attitudes just days after that 4-0 victory over the Cherries, which had seemed to have exorcised a few early-season demons:
It hasn’t got the same feeling as a Premier League game and often these things happen.
It must be a mindset with the players as it’s certainly not quality.
This competition is the only one left to do well in during my time at Burnley and it’s something we wanted to correct.
We prepared right and there was a good feeling but we didn’t do well enough in front of their goal.
Defour’s return from a calf injury is a huge positive for the Clarets and indeed perhaps a boost to their clean sheet chances going forward: ten of Burnley’s 12 shut-outs last season were recorded before Gameweek 24, the last league match in which the Belgian international featured in.
Speaking of his appearance at Burton, Defour said:
That’s the first thing you’re looking for, to get your rhythm back and your enjoyment back. You know at some point you’re going to have difficulties because you’ve not played for eight months, but it felt great.
I have my confidence back and my touches back which is what I was looking for. I enjoyed the competitive part. The first 15 minutes I played good then the next 20 were a bit weird, I couldn’t get hold of the ball. Then the end of the first half was really good again.
I had some good movement, some good passes forward. Personally it was a good feeling but we should have finished the game earlier.”
It was bad because the last few months I had a setback and then every time we had to step up the rehab we couldn’t because there was a problem and we couldn’t figure out what it was. I’ve waited so long for this. It’s been a really frustrating few months, but I started on Tuesday and enjoyed myself.
On his prospects of featuring against Neil Warnock’s side this weekend, Defour added:
I’m getting closer, I can play my part. It’s up to the gaffer and to me how I feel in the next few days.
Burnley XI (4-4-2): Heaton; Lowton, Long, Mee, Ward; Gudmundsson, Defour (Hendrick 73′), Westwood, McNeil; Wood (Vokes 80′), Vydra (Barnes 71′)
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