Our Gameweek 20 round-up continues with a look at how Fantasy assets from both Manchester clubs fared in their respective sides’ victories on Sunday.
As usual, we cover the main Fantasy talking points, goal details, manager quotes and injury news in our analysis of the fixtures in question.
Southampton 1-3 Manchester City
- Goals: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | David Silva, James Ward-Prowse own-goal, Sergio Aguero
- Assists: None | Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko
It wasn’t vintage Manchester City but there were at least more positive signs from Pep Guardiola’s side after their back-to-back defeats in Gameweeks 18 and 19.
The frailties at the back remain and this was the seventh straight league match in which City have failed to keep a clean sheet: only four other clubs in the top flight are without a shut-out in that time.
That statistic would certainly give encouragement to owners of Liverpool assets ahead of the two clubs’ meeting on Thursday, as would the nature of Southampton’s goal: Oleksandr Zinchenko (£4.7m) being caught on the ball by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£4.4m), who rifled a shot high past Ederson (£5.6m) to level the scores at 1-1.
Charlie Austin (£5.5m) ought to have done much better when clean through on goal before that equaliser but lost control of the ball, while Ederson produced a smart stop to keep out Austin’s flicked header from a corner-kick.
The City goalkeeper oozed confidence with the ball at his feet, twice evading tackles near to his own goal, though FPL managers who own Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) et al will be more than happy to see the Brazilian custodian attempting to repeat those tricks at the Etihad in Gameweek 21.
Once 3-1 up, however, City took total control of proceedings and the second half was something of a non-event. Only Chelsea conceded fewer shots on goal than City this weekend, which provides some crumbs of comfort for those Fantasy managers keeping faith with a member of the Sky Blues’ backline.
The return to the starting XI of the excellent Fernandinho (£5.3m) and David Silva (£8.5m) was also significant at both ends of the pitch, with the defending champions certainly posing more of an attacking threat than they had at the King Power Stadium.
No player on show made more final third passes or created more opportunities than Silva, with one of his key passes being a “big chance” for Raheem Sterling (£11.3m). “El Mago” also opened the scoring when getting on the end of a Bernardo Silva (£7.5m) cut-back: his fourth league goal in six starts.
After his anonymous showing at Leicester, Sterling showed glimpses of his old self in this match. Taking up the role on the left flank as Leroy Sane (£9.5m) was rested to the bench, Sterling registered more penalty box touches than any other player in Gameweek 20 (something he routinely did until recently) and could have walked away with more than just his admittedly fortuitous assist for James Ward-Prowse‘s (£5.0m) own-goal.
The England winger created two excellent chances for Silva and Sergio Aguero (£11.2), both of which were saved by Alex McCarthy (£4.5m), while the Southampton goalkeeper also made a stop with his head to deny Sterling a goal after the break.
Riyad Mahrez (£8.4m) was somewhat wasteful on the other flank and Sane will no doubt return at the expense of the Algerian on Thursday, with Guardiola set to go for the jugular against City’s title rivals.
The former Barcelona boss said:
We knew it that with the position of Liverpool, if we drop points then it is over, it is finished. It would be almost impossible. Of course, they are going to drop points but not too many. If you want to be there as far as possible until the end we have to remember what happened last season and this as well – apart from the last few days.
We’re not here to send a message, Liverpool know what they have to do, we know what we have to do next Thursday.
Guardiola could potentially take Zinchenko out of the firing line for that match and move Danilo (£5.1m) over to left-back, but the City head coach lauded the Ukrainian youngster after full-time:
Mistakes are part of the game. The mistake from Aleks, he’s not in a bad position, but in England when you get the ball in the middle and you’re pressed you have to set the ball but he didn’t do that.
But Aleks was the best player on the pitch because after the mistake he never hid, he never said he didn’t want the ball. Before the cross to Sergio, he made four or five actions to pass the ball and play.
That’s what I’m most delighted with, mistakes are part of the game. It was two or three balls in that position in the second half where he set the ball, he did it. He is young, he will learn.
Guardiola also provided an update on Kevin De Bruyne (£9.7m) and Ilkay Gundogan (£5.4m), who missed the win over Southampton through injury:
I don’t know – today [De Bruyne] was not able. Not a big issue – something muscular – but it’s normal after three or four months injured. So demanding there are some problems.
I cannot answer if he will be available for Thursday. We will see.
I think Gundogan, yeah [will be fit].
A word on Aguero, finally, who followed up his headed goal just before the break by hitting the woodwork in the second half and whose tireless movement in and around the opposition box certainly makes City look more of a threat than they do with Gabriel Jesus (£10.1m) in the side.
It’s now ten matches without a clean sheet for Southampton and no other Premier League side is on such a bad run regarding a paucity of shut-outs.
That would give plenty of encouragement for owners of Eden Hazard (£11.1m) ahead of the Saints’ trip to Stamford Bridge, though Ralph Hasenhuttl’s words suggested he was already thinking about that match long before full-time yesterday:
We gave it away in a very poor way and a very easy way. We have to talk about that because it was the same against West Ham.
At the break, we made the decision that we don’t go all in and take too much risk. We wanted to show in the second half that we can defend and not to lose the second-half if you want.
Then maybe you get a second goal and I think we have one header off a free-kick which could have given us a chance to come back.
The substitutions I made were very focused on the Chelsea game. The worst moment of the evening was the red card for Pierre because on 85 minutes the game was gone and it was silly, which he knows. It could cost us a lot.
The influential Hojbjerg will be missing for the trip to west London after that dismissal, which is another boost to Hazard owners/captainers.
Southampton XI (4-5-1): McCarthy; Ramsay, Stephens, Bednarek, Targett; Hojbjerg, Romeu (Valery 58′), Lemina (Redmond 46′), Ward-Prowse, Elyounoussi; Austin (Long 68′).
Manchester City XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Danilo, Kompany, Laporte, Zinchenko; Fernandinho (Walker 86)’, Bernardo Silva, David Silva; Mahrez (Sane 83′), Sterling, Aguero (Jesus 73′).
Manchester United 4-1 Bournemouth
- Goals: Paul Pogba (£8.2m), Marcus Rashford (£7.2m), Romelu Lukaku (£10.7m) | Nathan Ake (£5.0m)
- Assists: Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera (£5.0m), Anthony Martial (£7.3m), Paul Pogba | David Brooks (£5.0m)
From overpriced midfield Fantasy asset to the hottest property in FPL inside three Gameweeks, Paul Pogba‘s (£8.2m) renaissance continued with an 18-point haul against an obliging Bournemouth side on Sunday afternoon.
Pogba was the most-bought FPL player of Gameweek 20 and will repeat that feat again ahead of the New Year’s Day deadline, having already been snapped up by another 400,000 Fantasy bosses over the last 48 hours.
A negative to Pogba’s game under Jose Mourinho – from a Fantasy perspective, anyway – was his lack of prominence in dangerous areas during open play but both of his goals against the Cherries came from well-timed runs into the opposition six-yard-box, suggesting a player unleashed from the tactically disciplined midfield role demanded by his former boss.
While his penalty box touch count will never match the likes of Sterling or Salah, this extra dimension to his game only adds to his all-round appeal at the lower end of the premium midfielder market.
The Frenchman nearly added to his haul yesterday when hitting the post via a superb stop from Asmir Begovic (£4.4m) and seeing a big chance created for Marcus Rashford (£7.2m) go begging, but an assist for substitute Romelu Lukaku‘s (£10.7m) 71st-minute goal capped off a near-perfect afternoon for the former Juventus man and his ever-growing legions of FPL owners.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said of his star midfielder:
That is a top, top performance from a midfielder because it was all round. His work rate, he was dangerous in the box, he won headers, he won tackles and there was no showboating. It was touch, pass and move. He played an efficient game. And Paul knows he is at his best when he plays that game. There was one flick maybe that he missed halfway through the second half which he could have maybe done better, but there is not much more he could have done.
We want to see the best out of all the players, we want to see them enjoy themselves and express themselves, but within the framework and how we want the team to play. All of them have really performed up to their top standards.
Rashford produced another excellent display up front, drifting over to the flank again as Jesse Lingard (£6.9m) knitted the play together centrally.
The England forward set up Pogba’s first goal after some superb trickery on the right flank before prodding home a teasing Anthony Martial (£7.3m) cross from close range to leave Old Trafford with a double-digit haul.
That this was just the second home Premier League game of 2018/19 in which he has delivered an attacking return for his Fantasy owners says much about Mourinho’s failings to bring the best out of his former troops.
Rashford limped off with appeared to be a groin strain and we await further news on his condition later today, once Solskjaer’s pre-match press conference is lifted from its embargo.
Speaking purely of Rashford’s display, Solskjaer said:
I think Marcus has been different class since I have come in. He has scored two goals now in three games. His work rate is unbelievable. He closes down, chases, runs in behind and his skill for the first goal for Paul today was [brilliant].
The first thing is he holds up the ball up and hasn’t got the right to go past the first defender, but then to go past the second defender. He has got all the potential in the world to be a top, top striker.
Martial and Lingard failed to register a single shot on goal between them and were relatively peripheral compared to Pogba and Rashford, though were still high-functioning cogs in the United wheel going forward.
Martial’s assist means he has delivered an attacking return in eight of his last nine Premier League starts and he remains an excellent option at £7.3m, even if the imminent return of Alexis Sanchez (£10.0m) could eat into his minutes.
Solskjaer also highlighted the changes he has made to Lukaku’s game and the Belgian forward is perhaps one to monitor in the medium term:
He is a good, good target man, but if you tell him to be a target man he will never face the goal. Today he was side on, so he could go in behind or go towards the ball and he has got the attributes of a top striker, but we need to work on his fitness because he has had a few days off, but I am delighted for him even though he was half a yard offside, but it was still a good finish.
United still need a lot of work defensively and after conceding a Nathan Ake (£5.0m) goal just before the break, no side in the division has kept fewer clean sheets (two) in 2018/19. Eric Bailly (£5.0m) was also dismissed for a straight red card late in the game.
The Red Devils’ boss said:
You always look for improvements. You can’t switch off for one second in this league, you cannot switch off. We looked from the sideline what they were going to do and it happened, a great touch by the kid [David Brooks, who crossed for Nathan Ake’s header], but I have to say it was a very, very good performance.
We are looking for that clean sheet, we are looking for that foundation to let those front four just go and enjoy themselves because when you know you are keeping a clean sheet at the back, it is easier to perform and to create chances, nothing is rushed.
Ake is a doubt for Gameweek 21 after being taken off in the second half, with Eddie Howe saying:
I don’t know the latest on Nathan Ake, I’ll need to speak to him and the medical team but it looked like a hamstring complaint.
Howe said of his side’s defeat:
It’s a tough day and a disappointing performance. Defensively we weren’t great, with the ball we weren’t great and that’s a bad mix coming to Old Trafford. They played in the way we expected but we didn’t with them well, we didn’t defend crosses well and allowed them too much time.
We’ve been through a tough period, the fixture list has been extremely unkind to us. We’ve had a real run of successive games and the injury situation is very difficult as we have stretched resources. Those injuries maybe meant that I had to play a system I wouldn’t have played ideally.
That’s combined with confidence but the main focus for me is that we can control our destiny, we have to change this moment and that’s where the focus lies.
Missing both of their recognised right-backs for the rest of the season, Bournemouth lined up in a 3-5-2 with Jordon Ibe (£5.0m) deployed at right wing-back and possibly set to continue in that role given the dearth of alternatives available.
Howe said:
Jordon didn’t perform badly and he did well in a tough assignment against a difficult opponent.
He’s done well, against Chelsea he was excellent and as I said, today against a tough opponent he held his own.
He played the role with Liverpool as a young lad, but I think the team more generally defensively didn’t deal with crosses and we suffered from that area.
Callum Wilson (£6.7m) toiled up front and was generally deeper than Joshua King (£6.3m), with Wilson not registering a single shot on goal or penalty box touch.
Ryan Fraser (£6.1m), meanwhile, was benched for the second time in three Gameweeks and emerged for the dreaded “one-pointer” midway through the second half.
Preservation of energy might simply have been the order of the day for Fraser, though a continuation of a 3-5-2 could be detrimental to his Fantasy appeal given that Junior Stanislas (£6.0m), David Brooks (£5.0m), Andrew Surman (£4.6m) and Jefferson Lerma (£4.5m) would also be tussling for the three midfield spots.
Manchester United XI (4-3-3): De Gea; Young, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw; Herrera (Pereira 76′), Matic, Pogba; Lingard, Rashford (Lukaku 70′), Martial (Jones 82′).
AFC Bournemouth XI (3-5-2): Begovic; Cook, Ake (Mings 82′), Daniels; Ibe, Brooks (Mousset 66′), Surman, Stanislas, Rico; Wilson (Fraser 66′), King.
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