Goals: Douglas Luiz (£4.5m) | Harry Wilson (£6.0m) Josh King (£6.5m)
Assists: Jack Grealish (£6.0m) | Callum Wilson (£8.0m)
Bonus Points: El Mohamady x 3 Luiz x 2 H.Wilson/Grealish x 1
Bournemouth battled to a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon, leaving
An early penalty was converted by Josh King (£6.5m) after Tom Heaton (£4.5m) had fouled Callum Wilson (£8.0m) in the box to put the Cherries 1-0 up, before Bournemouth debutant Harry Wilson (£6.0m) doubled their lead with an outstanding strike.
The Wilson and King combination is a well-known and lethal duo to Fantasy managers, and the two strikers did not disappoint on Saturday. For Wilson, the assist for King’s converted penalty means the striker has now recorded attacking returns in two consecutive matches.
And for King, his well-taken penalty will inevitably add to his confidence as Bournemouth bid to build on their unbeaten start to the 2019/20 campaign with promising fixtures from Gamweeks 4 to 7, though first, they must face reigning Champions Manchester City at Dean Court in Gameweek 3.
Eddie Howe’s side were buoyant and energetic in attack, yet this enthusiasm was poorly managed by central midfielder Philip Billing (£5.0m) who was lucky to remain on the pitch after a number of poor challenges and was consequently substituted by Howe at half-time.
For Villa, this was a disappointing result after their promising performance against Spurs last week.
Manager Dean Smith will be understandably frustrated that his side
There are a number of assets in Villa’s squad who have the potential to offer value in 2019/20, yet investing in a team who are yet to prove themselves in the top-flight and who remain winless is a difficult decision to justify even if there is a wealth of potential value-for-money options in midfield and defence.
Tyrone Mings (£4.5m) delivered another commanding performance at the heart of the host’s defence alongside Bjorn Engels (£4.5m), whilst a wonder strike from Douglas Luiz (£4.5m) was the highlight of Villa’s afternoon, a superb effort from outside the box to drag Smith’s side back into contention for a tense final 15 minutes in front of a boisterous home crowd.
An assist for Jack Grealish (£6.0m) will be pleasing returns for the 6% of managers who backed the Villa captain, and with a crucial run of fixtures on the horizon to ensure relegation does not become an immediate concern for the club, he is likely to feature prominently and could deliver further attacking returns.
John McGinn (£5.6m) was relentless in the middle of the park for Villa, but the Scotsman was unable to deliver successive attacking returns to build on his goal away at Spurs in Gameweek 1.
The abilities of McGinn and Grealish are certainly documented, yet whether either of these players can be considered a viable and reliable asset for Fantasy managers given Villa’s volatility in the opening Gamweeks of 2019/20 is a question that remains unanswered.
Villa’s club-record signing Wesley (£6.0m) had a difficult afternoon against Bournemouth, failing to fulfil his role as a capable target-man to hold up the ball and unleash Villa’s faster attacking options such as Anwar El Ghazi (£5.5m) and Trezeguet (£5.5m).
It is too early to make a firm judgement on Wesley after just two matches, but from the perspective of early impressions, the Brazilian is unlikely to be a player that is featuring prominently for Fantasy managers, especially given the value that could lie in Villa’s defence alongside the early attacking returns from Grealish and McGinn in midfield.
Villa’s next three games – Everton (home), Crystal Palace (away) and West Ham (home) – are of huge importance in their bid to have a successful season and prevent getting dragged into a relegation dogfight, and these will be games that are closely monitored by Fantasy managers in assessing whether Smith’s side represent a squad worthy of investment for the early stages of 2019/20.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth and Howe remain unbeaten and will look to build on their early successes and continue the integration of players such as Harry Wilson who could yet become a differential pick in Bournemouth’s already impressive attacking armoury.
Reflecting on the game for us, The Villa View’s Dan Bardell said:
A game where neither team really impressed defensively, meaning budget defenders from both sides came away with low scores.
We need to cut out the errors, goalscorer Luiz at £4.5m obviously bagged but I wouldn’t expect him to be scoring too many, he’s a pure a defensive midfielder.
McGinn and Trezeguet looked our liveliest players. McGinn is going to get somewhere between 7-10 goals this season in my opinion. He will play every week and he just suits the Premier League.
For Bournemouth, Harry Wilson looks a shout, especially with Brooks out. Scored from range yesterday and will probably take his share of dead balls. Fraser looked good as well but his price increase puts me off him.
Billing as a budget midfielder doesn’t look advisable, could have easily been sent off yesterday. Good player, but not for Fantasy football.
Members Analysis
Aston Villa XI (4-3-3): Heaton; Elmohamady, Engels, Mings, Taylor; McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Grealish; Trezeguet (Davis 87′), Wesley, El Ghazi (Jota 75′)
Bournemouth XI (4-4-2): Ramsdale; Smith, Cook, Ake, Daniels; H. Wilson (Solanke 76′), Billing (Surman 46′), Lerma, Fraser; C. Wilson, King.
