Our Scout Notes continue with two more fixtures that were contested on Saturday.
The two most-bought Fantasy Premier League players of Gameweek 23, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, were on the scoresheet again as Manchester United edged out Brighton and Hove Albion.
Newcastle United saw off Cardiff City in their relegation six-pointer, with two goals from Fabian Schar helping the Swiss defender to a Gameweek-high score of 21 points.
We round up the main Fantasy talking points, relevant manager quotes and headline injury updates from the matches at Old Trafford and St James’ Park.
Manchester United 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
- Goals: Paul Pogba (£8.7m), Marcus Rashford (£7.7m) | Pascal Gross (£6.7m)
- Assists: Diogo Dalot (£5.3m) | Davy Propper (£4.8m)
Transferred in by a combined 1.3 million FPL managers between Gameweeks 22 and 23, Paul Pogba (£8.7m) and Marcus Rashford (£7.7m) delivered further returns for their ever-growing number of Fantasy backers as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made it six league wins on the spin since taking temporary charge at Old Trafford.
Pogba won and converted a spot-kick to put United in front and went on to register seven shots on goal in the match – albeit without hitting the target again.
The Frenchman has always been prone to chancing his arm from distance but the positive aspect of his play of late from a Fantasy perspective is that he has been juxtaposing those speculative long-distance efforts with attempts on goal from more dangerous areas: four of Pogba’s seven shots on Saturday were from inside the Brighton box, including a bicycle kick that crept narrowly wide.
No Premier League player in any position has registered more attempts on goal or shots on target as Pogba since Solskjaer took charge, while only three FPL assets (one of whom is Rashford) have recorded more shots in the box than the former Juventus midfielder during that time.
Penalty-taking duties is another string to Pogba’s bow and Solskjaer confirmed that, despite some stiff competition, the France international remains at the front of the queue for spot-kicks:
Paul is the penalty taker but we have got players who want to take penalties and that is the key. If they want to take it, they can argue among themselves but Paul is the nominated one.
He scores them, which is what matters. I wouldn’t have done it that way. I would have run to the ball and smashed it, but he kept his calm.
It took two minutes before he was allowed to take it so that shows how composed he is and I think he enjoys playing football, as well.
Rashford’s underlying statistics are as impressive as Pogba’s since Solskjaer was appointed interim boss and, back in a central role after deployment on the right flank against Spurs, the England forward had six shots of his own on Saturday (including an effort blocked on the line), with his 41st-minute goal a superb curling effort from an acute angle in the Brighton area.
No FPL player has had more shots in the box than Rashford from Gameweek 18 onwards, with only Pogba having recorded more efforts on target.
Solskjaer praised Rashford, who is now the most-owned forward in FPL:
[His goal] wasn’t bad, was it? [That was his] 150th game which is a feat in itself being 21 as he is.
The level of his performances at the moment, the maturity in his finishing, his work-rate, it is just a dream to have players like him in a team. He is [confident], you have got to be, the way he plays.
Of course, he has played a lot of football this last six or seven weeks. He has played all the games in the last few weeks. He has just grown in confidence, the maturity the way he plays, but his work-rate never stops and that is the most pleasing.
The United boss downplayed any suggestion Rashford was injured after he was withdrawn in stoppage time:
He was tired towards the end because his work-rate is unbelievable. We also knew they were going to get some crosses and set pieces so I put Matteo [Darmian] on as an extra defender just to see the game out.
Jesse Lingard (£6.8m) quietly impressed with his link-up play and movement but from a Fantasy perspective, he doesn’t quite pack the same punch as Pogba and Rashford: the England midfielder has had only six shots since Solskjaer took charge and registered only one effort on Saturday, albeit one that should have brought a goal when he turned Rashford’s inviting cross wide from six yards.
Like Lingard, Anthony Martial (£7.3m) is also somewhat being overshadowed by Pogba and Rashford of late.
The French midfielder still posed a threat cutting in from the left flank and saw a presentable opportunity smothered by David Button (£4.0m), but his own attacking KPIs are similar to Lingard’s over the last half-dozen Gameweeks and there seems little incentive – price aside – to plump for Martial over Pogba at this juncture.
The return of Alexis Sanchez (£10.0m) may also cut into his game-time, with the Chilean named on the bench on Saturday after returning from a hamstring injury and set for a start in the FA Cup fourth round this weekend.
Solskjaer said:
Alexis is not 100 per cent match fit. He’s been out quite a while but he’ll probably be in the team for the FA Cup next week.
The Red Devils couldn’t complete a hat-trick of shut-outs after back-to-back clean sheets against Newcastle and Spurs, with Pascal Gross (£6.7m) firing in off the bar with 20 minutes remaining to set up a grandstand finish.
David de Gea (£5.7m) didn’t have to repeat his heroics of Wembley and made only two comfortable saves throughout but the Seagulls highlighted the still-present weaknesses in United’s defence with a late bombardment of crosses, while Glenn Murray (£6.3m) sliced horribly wide in the first half when through on goal.
Chris Hughton said of his side’s efforts:
If there was going to be one team [to score in the final minutes], then it was going to be us, or they were going to benefit on the break from the bodies that we were throwing forward.
At times we broke really well and had some really good build-up play, but we just needed a little more quality once we got into the final third. But the quality that they’ve got was the difference between the teams.
When you come here, you know you’ve got to stay in the game, and we paid the price for a slow start and conceding poor goals.
We showed great character after that, we certainly made it a game and made it a tense finish for them. But it was a game that we weren’t at our best, and I’d say the same for United.
Brighton were unchanged from Gameweek 22, while United were set to be likewise until Luke Shaw (£5.0m) fell ill in the warm-up and had to be replaced by Diogo Dalot (£5.3m) at left-back.
Manchester United XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Young, Lindelof, Jones, Dalot; Herrera, Matic; Lingard (Mata 75′), Pogba, Martial (Lukaku 82′); Rashford (Darmian 93′).
Brighton and Hove Albion XI (4-3-3): Button; Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bong; Stephens, Propper, Gross (Kayal 82′); Locadia, Murray (Andone 61′), March (Knockaert 61′).
Newcastle United 3-0 Cardiff City
- Goals: Fabian Schar (£4.6m) x2, Ayoze Perez (£6.1m)
- Assists: Isaac Hayden (£4.3m), Jamaal Lascelles (£4.6m), Salomon Rondon (£5.7m)
Newcastle United recorded their seventh clean sheet of the season as they swatted aside Cardiff City in what could end up being an important result in the battle to beat the drop.
Only five teams – the current top four and Crystal Palace – have recorded more shut-outs than the Magpies in 2018/19, with Rafael Benitez’s side also having the joint-sixth-best rest record for goals conceded.
Newcastle have only shipped 12 goals in 15 matches against sides outside the current top six and all of their clean sheets have come against teams ranked seventh or below.
While the Magpies’ next two fixtures against Manchester City and Spurs are enough to deter Fantasy investment for the time being, Benitez’s troops then face only two “big six” sides in their remaining 13 matches of the season and sit top of our Season Ticker for defence from Gameweeks 26-38.
This was a comfortable clean sheet for Newcastle, with Cardiff’s only attempt on target being a 71st-minute header from Bruno Ecuele Manga (£4.4m) that Martin Dubravka (£5.0m) dealt with comfortably.
Both sides have struggled for goals this season but the Bluebirds were particularly toothless in this match, as they have so often been on their travels in the top flight: no other Premier League side has scored fewer goals on the road than Cardiff (six) in 2018/19.
More worryingly, Neil Warnock’s side have registered a total of just one shot on target in two consecutive matches against sides who were in the bottom three at kick-off.
The South Wales club have, at least, moved to address their striker problems with the loan capture of Oumar Niasse (£5.0m) and the club-record signing of Emiliano Sala.
This could bring Callum Paterson‘s (£5.1m) run of “out of position” starts up front to an end, though the Cardiff utility man was still used in a number ten role in behind Niasse at St James’ Park on Saturday.
Neither player registered a shot on goal, however, with Niasse only touching the ball once in the Newcastle area.
Warnock had warned in his pre-match press conference that Niasse wasn’t match-fit and the on-loan Everton man had a forgettable debut, albeit not helped by a lack of service.
The Cardiff manager said of Niasse:
He had trained. I wanted to start him rather than have him on the bench, it was so cold today.
I thought there might be more problems if he came off the bench, maybe pulling a muscle or what have you. I asked him to give me an hour and he did that.
The captures of Niasse and Sala would further dent Bobby Reid‘s (£5.2m) chances of starting, with Warnock saying of his summer signing from Bristol City:
I’ve had no complaints with Bobby and the opportunities he’s had. I always pick what I think is my best side if I’m honest and I don’t think that will change.
Victor Camarasa (£4.6m), a semi-popular budget bench fodder option in FPL, still didn’t look 100% fit and the on-loan Spaniard played in a more withdrawn midfield position on Saturday, though still had a couple of pops at goal from distance and was again on corner-taking duties for his side.
Camarasa was deployed in central midfield in the absence of Harry Arter (£4.9m), who Warnock said wasn’t seriously injured:
He tweaked his groin and we’re not sure what it is.
It was one of them, although you want to play him, with ten days until the next game you want to make sure you don’t aggravate anything.
We had a chat before the game as he was going to be a substitute. But why risk him coming on? He wasn’t sure whether it was an old injury he’s had in the past or a new one.
We thought ‘let’s wait and do some tests on Monday’. Hopefully, he’ll be ok for the Arsenal game.
Sean Morrison (£4.7m) also missed a Premier League match for the first time this season after appendix surgery and his possible medium-term absence may prompt Warnock to move for a defender in the January transfer window, given that Ecuele Manga was forced to move over from right-back to cover at centre-half.
Warnock said:
We are looking. I thought I’d got a full-back last week but unfortunately, that didn’t materialise.
We’ve got ten days now. We can intensify that, as I do think we need another defender. Hopefully, a lad who can play a couple of positions, someone quite versatile.
Fabian Schar (£4.6m) was the headline-grabber on Tyneside after scoring a brace, his first goal being a slaloming, Hatem Ben Arfa-lite run and finish and his second strike a much scruffier deflection into the net from a Jamaal Lascelles (£4.6m) flick-on.
Schar came to the Premier League with a reputation for scoring goals and the Swiss defender could have had a hat-trick here, nodding a Matt Ritchie (£5.8m) corner wide midway through the second half.
Benitez admitted though that the centre-back was not always his first choice and given the wealth of options available to the Newcastle manager in that position, Schar’s rotation risk status remains a little off-putting.
Benitez said:
He cost €3.5m. I knew him when he was at Basel but also when he was at Deportivo la Coruna; I have some friends there and they told me about the [relegation] release clause, and we started analysing things.
I would be lying if I said he was always the first target, but we knew he could come in and help. We knew he had experience and had some quality on the ball, especially with his right foot.
He has done really well. We have some really good centre-backs.
Salomon Rondon (£5.7m) was his usual bustling self up front and caused problems for the Cardiff backline, creating Ayoze Perez‘s (£6.1m) stoppage-time goal without really going close to scoring himself: three of the Venezuelan striker’s four shots were blocked.
Ritchie was another to impress and with Rondon and three centre-backs to aim for in Benitez’s now seemingly favoured 3-4-2-1, his set-piece responsibilities (at least, until Ki Sung-yueng (£4.7m) returns) enhance his assist potential.
Newcastle United XI (3-4-2-1): Dubravka; Schar, Lascelles, Lejeune; Yedlin, Longstaff, Hayden, Ritchie (Manquillo 85′); Perez, Atsu; Rondon.
Cardiff City XI (4-4-1-1): Etheridge; Peltier, Ecuele Manga, Bamba, Bennett; Mendez-Laing (Murphy 82′), Ralls, Camarasa, Hoilett; Paterson (Ward 89′); Niasse (Reid 64′).
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