Scout Notes

Another home blank for Abraham but chances continue to arrive

Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle United

  • Goals: Marcos Alonso (£6.2m)
  • Assists: Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m)
  • Bonus: Alonso, Hudson-Odoi x3, Kurt Zouma (£4.7m) x1

Chelsea continued their impressive start to the 2019/20 Premier League season with a hard-fought victory over Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United, a result that lifts Frank Lampard’s side into third.

The Magpies came into the game having secured upsets against ‘big six’ opposition in the current campaign – namely Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – yet the compact system deployed by Bruce fell marginally short of its intended ambition with Lampard’s side battling to a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. 

Although another clean sheet for Chelsea will be pleasing for owners of players such as Fikayo Tomori (£4.7m), who has emerged as a starting budget defender under Lampard, this was an afternoon of sheer disappointment for owners of the highly-popular Tammy Abraham (£7.7m) – the most popular selection in our Gameweek 9 captaincy poll with over 30% of the vote. 

Abraham squandered a number of golden chances, including hitting the bar and being denied when in on goal with just DeAndre Yedlin (£4.4m) to beat, but the American defender put in a remarkable block to deny the England striker any attacking returns. 

In a Gameweek where a number of non-premium forwards attracted considerable captaincy interest, including Callum Wilson (£8.0m) against Norwich who also blanked, Abraham’s performance will be a source of considerable frustration for managers who handed the mid-price striker the armband. 

This was the England striker’s fourth blank in five home matches this season.

Although Abraham was unable to get on the scoresheet, defender Marcos Alonso (£6.2m) delivered a goalscoring performance that was a reminder of the Spaniard’s attacking abilities, even if he is unable to reach the standards he has previously set for himself in the Premier League. 

Alonso’s goal came after Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m) set up the defender, and the performance from the 18-year-old will have given his manager food for thought after yet another assist. 

This was Hudson Odoi’s second successive start for the Blues in the league, and including his substitute appearance against Brighton in Gameweek 7, the forward has now registered three consecutive assists in the Premier League. 

Given the competition for places in Chelsea’s squad alongside the form that the likes of Willian (£7.0m) are exhibiting, it is difficult to determine whether Hudson-Odoi is likely to retain his starting berth in the Chelsea XI.

Yet at a price of £6.0m, the England international’s performances are certainly worthy of monitoring for Fantasy managers who may be looking for a differential to complement the likes of Abraham. 

Lampard confirmed how pleased he was with Chelsea’s attacking performance in his post-match comments. 

We were upbeat, we had urgency, the tempo was good, and that got us the win. We want to score goals. You can see the fans – I think they’re happy with what they’re seeing at the moment. We want more.

Although lately it has been Mason Mount (£6.8m) who has been grabbing the headlines with four goals and an assist so far this season, in the game against Newcastle the Englishman was unable to deliver any attacking returns and was substituted by Lampard in the 64th minute at the expense of Christian Pulisic (£7.2m). 

Ross Barkley (£5.6m) left the pitch in the 43rd minute, with Mateo Kovacic (£5.4m) coming on in his place, and Lampard confirmed after the game it was an ankle injury and it will be assessed in the coming days. 

It’s an ankle injury. We need to assess it and see how bad it is.

For Chelsea’s defence, although Newcastle seldom troubled their backline, a second clean sheet in two games and just one goal conceded in their last three will be promising news to those managers in ownership of their defensive assets, although Tomori was booked late on to reduce his score to five points. 

Whilst Chelsea will be ruing both their misfortune and inefficiency in front of goal, this was a defeat for Newcastle that underlines the disinterest in their players as Fantasy options in 2019/20. 

A lack of attacking returns has become a familiar tale on Tyneside in the current campaign, and unless Bruce is willing to compromise the Benitez-esque tactical principles whilst playing away from home against typically ‘bigger’ sides, the likes of Joelinton (£5.8m) are unlikely to prosper within Newcastle’s set-up – despite the Brazilian scoring against Spurs in Gameweek 3 when a similar counter-attacking system was deployed away from home. 

Easier tests await though and Bruce confirmed in his post-match comments that the upcoming run of fixtures for Newcastle will be hugely influential in determining the outcome of their 2019/20 campaign:

We’ve had a really tough start. We’ve now got a run of games against teams who are going to be in and around us. Hopefully, we can get a few points.

A fifth successive win for Chelsea points to the momentum they are gathering under Lampard, and although today marked a blank for Abraham, those managers in ownership of the striker should not be deterred the lack of returns in today’s fixture. 

The Englishman was both the creator and recipient of a number of chances throughout the game, and given his price, he is likely to continue to offer exceptional value as an attacking option at an in-form team who now sit third in the Premier League table. 

Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1): Kepa; Alonso, Zouma, Tomori, Azpilicueta; Jorginho, Barkley (Kovacic 43′); Hudson-Odoi (James 90+2′) Mount (Pulisic 64”), Willian; Abraham.

Newcastle United XI (3-4-3): Dubravka; Clark, Lascelles, Schär; Willems, M Longstaff, S Longstaff, Yedlin; Saint-Maximin (Gayle 85′), Joelinton (Atsu 83′), Almirón (Carroll 70′).

Members Analysis 

Players involved in Chelsea v Newcastle United sorted by expected goals (xG)

Abraham was the second-highest underachiever of xG (-0.66) of all players involved in Gameweek 9, behind only Aston Villa’s Anwar El Ghazi (-0.73). 

Players involved in Chelsea v Newcastle United sorted by chances created (CC)

Hudson-Odoi created the most chances (five) of all players on the pitch, whilst also registering the highest baseline bonus points score (23) of all midfielders in action on Saturday in Gamweek 9. 

Players involved in Chelsea v Newcastle United sorted by attempts on goal

Willian posted some eye-catching numbers, creating three chances and matching Abraham for attempts on goal.

Alonso’s total of six penalty box touches is the second-highest among FPL defenders in Gameweek 9 so far. Since his return to the Chelsea team in Gameweek 5, no defender has registered more touches in the opposition area.

Team-wise, Chelsea won the joint-most aerial duals (24) of all teams in action on Saturday. This again underscores Newcastle’s weakness in the air – only Norwich have allowed more headed chances than the Magpies (29) this season.

Analyse player and team data from Chelsea v Newcastle in our Members Area.

929 Comments Post a Comment
  1. The Big Fella
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    kun owners what are you doing?

    1. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      Keeping and captaining

    2. jtreble
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      AVL (H) and SOU (H) look nice to me.

    3. Pedram
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      I'm giving the armband to him.

  2. Maddamotha
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Surprised people think it will be many goals in this game. It wont.

    1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      It wont from one of the teams

    2. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      I think 3 0 pool

      1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 5 months ago

        Yeah same, or 4-0

    3. Indpush
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      Pool 1-0

  3. FOO FIGHTER
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    20 minutes to game time.

    Old Toilet, get ready.

  4. Feed tha Sheep
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Bottomed
    On a WC who would people preferred front three be? Thinking Tammy Vardy & Agureo/Auba

    1. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      I have aguero vardy and Tammy if that's any use . I like Jimmy too

  5. FOO FIGHTER
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Damn, at least I have Mane who might very well outscore KDB this GW.

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      He might pull a hammy in the warm up.

      1. FOO FIGHTER
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 5 months ago

        Ha ha. I do the walk of the actor on the original Exorcist movie if that happens.

        1. FOO FIGHTER
          • 4 Years
          4 years, 5 months ago

          *will do*

    2. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      15 pointer incoming

  6. Tsparkes10
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Rojo in for Tuanzebe... Pen for Mane then 🙂

  7. jtreble
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Where can I find the Top 10K turnover stats (i.e., number of new entrants and exits)?

  8. circusmonkey
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    30 points, Salah no show gives Lundstram off bench. Vvd also. Feeling like an ok week when I read you lot.

  9. OverTinker
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Worst GW ever time to do WC now. But the problem is everyone is so inconsistent so don’t know who I should pick on WC

  10. Jordan.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    8 point hit

    otamendi 0
    salah 0
    pukki 1
    vvd ?

    in
    tomori 5
    soyuncu 2
    mane ?
    auba ?

    might be winning initially lager induced hit....

    1. dansmusen
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      Who would have been your subs for Ota/Salah ?

      1. Jordan.
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 5 months ago

        lundstram.guendouzi ,fair point

        1. dansmusen
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 5 months ago

          Still could be a good move

  11. circusmonkey
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Went to Dortmund v Monchengladbach last night, 81,365 present. Stood up, got soaked in beer when they scored. If you get the chance, go.

  12. Murder On Zidanesfloor
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Salah 34.5% EO in top 10K. Lower than I though. Mane almost 60%

    1. Murder On Zidanesfloor
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      Thought*

  13. Jekori
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Despite only scoring 35 points so far my WC at least has some silver lining:
    Out: Ota, Salah, Pukki, Cantwell, Son, Kelly.
    Hopefully Mané and Auba can join Webster and CHO in the new and delivering category

  14. SpaceCadet
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Need a Mane brace now for some WC redemption.

  15. Maddamotha
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    So Tuanzebe injured during the warm up. I take it back, will be a lot of goals in this match. Unbelieveable!!!!!!

  16. Piggs Boson
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 5 months ago

    Andreas has the decision-making of a 10-year-old.

    1. potatoace
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 5 months ago

      kids learn at their own pace, he'll catch up in time for his gcse's