Scout Notes

Returns for Ings and Maupay but Grealish blanks at Watford

Danny Ings (£6.6m) scored again in Gameweek 20 as Neal Maupay (£5.8m) picked up an assist, while it was frustration for Aston Villa and Jack Grealish (£6.4m) at Vicarage Road.

Our latest festive set of Scout Notes analyse Brighton v Bournemouth, Southampton v Crystal Palace and Watford v Villa.

BRIGHTON 2-0 BOURNEMOUTH

BHABOU scout notes 1
Neal Maupay had plenty of shots but his accuracy was lacking
  • Goals: Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£5.8m), Aaron Mooy (£4.8m)
  • Assists: Neal Maupay (£5.8m), Leandro Trossard 9£5.8m)
  • Bonus Points: Mooy x3, Lewis Dunk (£4.7m) x2, Trossard x1

On his first start under Graham Potter, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£5.8m) scored his maiden Brighton goal after just three minutes. The Iranian slotted into the far-right corner after being teed up by Neal Maupay (£5.8m).

Only minutes later, Diego Rico (£4.4m) put Josh King (£6.1m) through but the Norwegian’s effort was saved by Mat Ryan (£4.8m).

Brighton broke up the field immediately after in an end-to-end opening at the Amex Stadium, with Maupay firing over from distance.

The Frenchman rocketed another effort well over the crossbar from just outside the box in the 10th minute, before shooting wide again moments later.

Maupay had an opportunity to get off a shot inside the area after 33 minutes but failed to properly control a low Dan Burn (£4.5m) cross.

And it was the Brighton left-back who got an important block to a Harry Wilson (£5.9m) effort after the Liverpool loanee was found in the area by King.

Cherries forward King then saw Lewis Dunk (£4.7m) intercept his cutback, with the onrushing Dominic Solanke (£5.2m) denied a tap-in.

Maupay attempted another shot before the break, his weak effort rolling into the hands of Aaron Ramsdale (£4.7m).

A 55th-minute VAR check ruled that Dunk did not foul Solanke in the box as Bournemouth pushed for an equaliser.

The Video Assistant Referee was in action again moments later as Burn’s goal was ruled out for the defender himself being offside from the free-kick which resulted in his strike.

Aaron Mooy (£4.8m), who impressed as the most advanced of Brighton’s midfield three, shot just wide in the 62nd minute before Yves Bissouma (£5.0m) hit Ramsdale’s right-hand post from inside the area.

That was just after Callum Wilson (£7.4m) and Ryan Fraser (£6.9m) were brought on by Eddie Howe, while King departed the action after 72 minutes with the Cherries still trailing by a goal.

On the penalty-taking forward, Howe remarked:

We need to see how we came through today. Today was very difficult. It looks like Josh King, maybe, picked up a hamstring injury. Jack Stacey, the same. Jefferson Lerma couldn’t start today because of a hamstring problem.

The Cherries’ deficit was doubled by Mooy in the 79th minute as the Australian collected a Leandro Trossard (£5.8m) cross into the box, lifted the ball over Chris Mepham (£4.3m) before finding the corner of the net.

Maupay then hit another shot straight at Ramsdale after an exquisite touch from man-of-the-match Mooy.

A late Bournemouth flurry saw Shane Duffy (£4.8m) block efforts from Callum Wilson and Solanke, while Mepham stopped Maupay from firing yet another effort just before the final whistle.

Speaking about the on-loan Mooy, Potter said:

“Aaron is on loan for the season and we have to respect that he is Huddersfield’s player. He’s enjoying his football and he feels comfortable at the club. He’s a great person and an intelligent footballer. Previously we perhaps haven’t got the reward as a team his individual performance deserved but today we did and I’m delighted for him.” – Graham Potter

Scout notes GW20 Sat
Aaron Mooy shoots past Aaron Ramsdale to seal three points for Brighton

On Brighton’s win, Potter added:

“I am delighted with the result and the performance and proud of the players, in the way they went about the game. There was some good quality at times and it’s an important three points for everyone – the players and the supporters. We could have had another goal or two but in the end it’s a win we are delighted with.  We got the early goal but there were aspects of the first half I wasn’t so happy with. We made a few adjustments and the response was really good. Even when Bournemouth made changes it didn’t have too much effect, but at 1-0 you know that you need the second and I was pleased with how the players reacted to the disappointment of our disallowed VAR goal and kept going. We deserved to get the second one.” – Graham Potter

Potter’s opposing number Howe lamented:

“That was a tough day today, we know how good Brighton are with the ball and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb and didn’t settle in the first 10 minutes. We did recover and did well in the remainder of the first half. What was most disappointed was the second half where we needed to get on the ball and we didn’t have the composure to do that. The most difficult thing is the run of results but the strength of the squad has been knocked and that allows a feeling sorry for yourself if you don’t get the results you want. But we have to go again, find the inner strength and keep going. You know with a small squad the Christmas period is ultimate test and you need to rotate players, it’s very difficult to ask players to go twice in three days and it looks like we’ve lost Josh and Jack so it is not a good day. The games come thick and fast and this was one of the games we needed to get something and we didn’t. We need to learn our lessons.” – Eddie Howe

Brighton and Hove Albion (4-3-3): Ryan; Burn, Dunk, Duffy, Montoya; Mooy (Stephens 84′), Bissouma (Murray 89′), Propper; Trossard, Maupay, Jahanbakhsh (Alzate 84′).

Bournemouth (4-4-2): Ramsdale; Rico, Mepham, S. Cook, Stacey; Stanislas (C. Wilson 62′), Billing, Gosling, H. Wilson (Fraser 62′); King (L. Cook 73′), Solanke.

MEMBERS ANALYSIS

SOUTHAMPTON 1-1 CRYSTAL PALACE

Scout notes GW20 Sat 4
Ings gets set to celebrate after slotting past Guaita
  • Goal: Danny Ings (£6.6m) | James Tomkins (£5.0m)
  • Assists: None | Luka Milivojevic (£6.7m)
  • Bonus: Ings x3, Tomkins x2, Milivojevic x1

Danny Ings (£6.6m) made it 12 league goals for the season at St. Mary’s on Saturday afternoon after capitalising on a mistake from popular budget defender Martin Kelly (£4.4m) in the second half to earn a point for Southampton.

Crystal Palace thought they had taken the lead after 13 minutes, only for VAR to intervene. Wilfried Zaha (£6.9m) bamboozled the Saints defence in the box before finding Max Meyer (£5.2m), who slammed a shot past Alex McCarthy (£4.3m).

But Zaha was ruled to be offisde as he received the ball, in what was a marginal call from the Video Assistant Referee. It means the Ivory Coast international still has just one attacking return since Gameweek 15.

Southampton’s best chance of the first half fell to Jan Bednarek (£4.4m), who failed to hit the target from close range after a wicked James Ward-Prowse (£5.9m) free-kick.

Ings had two efforts blocked in the box immediately after the restart before Palace took the lead.

James Tomkins (£5.0m) rose highest to meet Luka Milivojevic‘s (£6.7m) set-piece delivery, with the defender’s header rifling past McCarthy via the crossbar.

Tomkins will not have been happy with Kelly for his role in the Saints’ equaliser. The right-back’s poor attempt at a pass to his fellow defender ended up at the feet of Ings, who coolly slotted past Vicente Guaita (£5.1m).

After a first half without a shot on target, there were seven in the second period. Five of those came for the home team, with Ings heavily involved.

The forward headed just over Guaita’s crossbar after 81 minutes, before Ward-Prowse saw the Palace netminder keep out his free-kick – one of Guaita’s four saves at St. Mary’s. The Spaniard had already made a great stop from substitute Moussa Djenepo (£5.2m), returning from injury.

Ralph Hasenhuttl was pleased with the amount of chances created by his team, saying:

“It was a pity that Moussa didn’t score – it was a great save from the goalkeeper – and Ingsy had a good chance, with another great save from the goalkeeper, so I think we showed a good reaction after the goal. I think the team knew it is difficult if you go one down against this team, but we stuck to the game plan and Moussa made a good impact as a sub. In the end, we had more chances than the opponent, so I think it was not such a bad game for us. It was absolutely a deserved point and maybe, with a little bit of luck, we could’ve taken more.” – Ralph Hasenhüttl

Speaking about his current injury list – which includes three first-choice defenders and could see Kelly added to that list – Roy Hodgson said:

It’s all very well to talk about injuries and people do but not too many people have seven players [injured], all of whom are in the first team. The only one you could say maybe hasn’t played so much is Scott Dann but the other six [Cahill, Ward, Van Aanholt, Schlupp, Townsend, Benteke] are all players who probably would have played today had we had them available. We’re not talking about players who are bit-part players, we’re talking about regular first-teamers and as a result of course we had a bench with three Under-23s who haven’t played [in the league]. We have Connor Wickham who’s not played in three years from the start, Victor Camarasa who’s not started a game as yet and then we have Cheikhou Kouyate who ends up on the field. I know one thing: whatever team we put out [v Norwich City], however well we succeed in patching them up or maybe in one or two instances not patching them up, those players who go out there with a Crystal Palace shirt on will definitely give their all, like today. [Jairo] Riedewald played his first full game. He’s been with me two or three years, Jairo, and I think that’s his fourth or fifth [start] in the first-team. [He was] fantastic. Martin Kelly, injured, playing right-back [and he is a] centre-back really. [James] McCarthy, only his second full game from the start. Max Meyer hasn’t really played very much in the season so far.” – Roy Hodgson

Southampton XI (4-4-2): McCarthy; Bertrand, Bednarek, J Stephens, Cedric; Redmond, Ward-Prowse, Højbjerg, Boufal (Armstrong 68′); Ings, Adams (Djenepo 63′).

Crystal Palace XI (4-5-1): Guaita; Riedewald, Sakho, Tomkins, M Kelly; Zaha, McCarthy, Milivojevic, McArthur, Meyer (Kouyate 84′); Ayew.

MEMBERS ANALYSIS

View more player and team stats from Southampton v Crystal Palace here

WATFORD 3-0 ASTON VILLA

Scout notes GW20 Sat 1
Deeney’s rebound squeezes past Heaton
  • Goals: Troy Deeney (£6.2m) x2, Ismaila Sarr (£6.2m)
  • Assists: Abdoulaye Doucoure (£5.6m), Etienne Capoue (£4.8m)
  • Bonus: Deeney x3, Craig Cathcart (£4.3m) x2, Capoue x1

Jack Grealish (£6.4m) drew a blank at Vicarage Road on Saturday, while also picking up a late yellow card for his troubles as Nigel Pearson’s Watford revolution continued.

The Hornets have two wins and one draw in the past three Gameweeks and put Dean Smith’s Aston Villa to the sword in this relegation-zone scrap.

After the game, the Lions’ boss said:

“The performance in the first half lost us the game. It was nowhere near good enough. Watford looked more committed but, having said that, we had a great chance [Wesley’s header].” – Dean Smith

Christian Kabasele (£4.3m) saw Tom Heaton (£4.5m) palm his early effort off the line after Troy Deeney‘s (£6.2m) flick-on from a corner.

Ben Foster (£4.8m) matched Heaton in the 25th minute, using his leg to divert a close-range Wesley (£5.7m) header over the bar after a Conor Hourihane (£5.7m) cross.

VAR then decided not to award a penalty after Wesley clashed with Craig Cathcart (£4.3m) in the Watford area.

Ismaila Sarr‘s (£6.2m) blocked shot led to a 40th-minute corner for the Hornets and after a bit of pinball, Deeney was presented with a glorious opportunity to score but his weak effort rolled into Heaton’s hands.

But the Watford captain made up for his miss moments later. Ezri Konsa (£4.3m) had his attempted clearance charged down by the buzzing Hornets, which resulted in Heaton pushing out an Abdoulaye Doucouré (£5.6m) effort.

The Villa keeper could not stop Deeney’s rebound from making its way into his far corner, however, as the home side took the lead just before the interval.

The away team continued to look shaky at the back as the second half began but were handed an advantage when Adrian Mariappa (£4.2m) was sent off for a second bookable offence.

That did not stop Pearson’s men attempting to stretch their lead and a Douglas Luiz (£4.4m) foul on Deeney in the area led to a 68th-minute penalty for Watford.

Smith added:

“There was a lot of frustration out there. It [Douglas Luiz’s challenge for the penalty] was shoulder-to-shoulder. There is a foul on Jack for the third goal, but the fourth official told me that the player got the ball, when he obviously didn’t.” – Dean Smith

The striker made no mistake as he fired past Heaton from the spot, just after Matt Targett (£4.4m) left the pitch due to an injury – meaning the left-back picked up two points rather than one, in a Gameweek where it appears every point will really count.

Another Watford break minutes later saw FPL midfielder Sarr convert inside the area from Etienne Capoue‘s (£4.8m) cross.

The Villans failed to capitalise on Mariappa’s dismissal, with the talismanic Grealish managing three shots and picking up that injury-time booking in an ill-tempered affair.

We knew that it was going to be a tough season. There is no excuse, we have to perform better than we did today. – Dean Smith

Watford XI (4-2-3-1): Foster; Femenía, Cathcart (Masina 85′), Kabasele, Mariappa; Capoue, Hughes (Chalobah 46′, Dawson 60′); Deulofeu, Doucouré, Sarr; Deeney.

Aston Villa XI (4-3-3): Heaton; Targett (Guilbert 66′), Hause, Konsa, El Mohamady; Hourihane, D Luiz, Lansbury (Kodjia 73′); Grealish, Wesley, Jota (El Ghazi 46′).

MEMBERS ANALYSIS

View more player and team stats from Watford v Aston Villa here

2,380 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Rocky FPL
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    DCL or Maupay?
    Maupay has great fixtures after the Chelsea game.

    1. Don Kloppeone
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      DCL looks a much better player all round imo and also has v good fixtures after MCI

    2. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Slightly favor Maupay myself

    3. Whats the Huth
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Kicking myself for going Maupay over DCL this week. But Maupay does seem like the better player

    4. maratus
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Kind of same.
      If i dont do Maupay before raise, he will get outpriced.
      But if I pick DCL next week, i can skip the hard fixture incoming next.
      hmm..

    5. GoonSquad
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I have Maupay, and I'd go DCL, better team behind him and Ancelotti can only help them improve.

    6. CSF150473
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I brought him last GW for that reason ,but he’s missing a lot of chances so it’s hard to know

  2. _Gunner
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Hi guys, Got 2FT and 0.2 itb and have no idea what to do, I need some help.

    Gazzaniga*
    Aurier* Rico Soyuncu
    Salah KDB Cantwell Zaha*
    Kane Vardy Rashford

    subs:McGovern Grealish Tomori Lundstram

    1. Rocky FPL
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Zaha to Traore
      Aurier to TAA

      1. Whats the Huth
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        This is better

      2. _Gunner
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Can't afford that unfortunately.

        Zaha > Traore
        Aurier > VVD

        or

        Zaha > Mooy (rotate him with Cantwell)
        Aurier > TAA

    2. Whats the Huth
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Aurier to Sidibe
      Zaha to whoever you can afford.
      If struggling - Kane to jiminez to raise funds

      1. _Gunner
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        my only current differential in ML is Kane and am chasing.

        Maybe Aurier > Sidibe yes.

  3. Ryssel
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    I'm so annoyed at Martin Kelly.
    That hospital pass resulted in an 11 or 12 point swing in my mini league

    1. The FPL Units
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      He did it just to annoy you.

    2. Camino Aleatorio
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Lost a clean sheet but gained Ings points

  4. Whats the Huth
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    This team G2G?
    1 FT and 0 ITB

    Henderson
    Söyüncü. Rico. TAA
    Maddison. KDB. Salah. Mane. Grealish
    Vardy. Ings.

    Button. Maupay. Lundstram. Tomori.

    1. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Absolutely

    2. Rocky FPL
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Yes. Very good. But not sure the need for 8 good attackers. You can only play 7.

      1. maratus
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Its actually decent to have 8 for these busy xmas , newyear games.
        After that, its just to much money sitting in the bench.

        1. Whats the Huth
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Yes. One of these payers will be downgraded for funds and to be benched. Thinking Grealish will be the one to make way.

          8 strong attackers is just for this period.

          1. maratus
            • 9 Years
            4 years, 3 months ago

            Whats your teamvalue, I dont understand how you get all those players?

            1. Whats the Huth
              • 8 Years
              4 years, 3 months ago

              You mean squad value?
              It’s 107.5

            2. Camino Aleatorio
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 5 Years
              4 years, 3 months ago

              It works with early entry into some players. I could have the near same team but don’t want Salah- rather have Rashford, 8M midfielder, and Van Dijk

              1. Whats the Huth
                • 8 Years
                4 years, 3 months ago

                Lots of options indeed.
                Surely you need Salah though. He was unbelievably dangerous vs Leicester.
                Although, it looks like the clean sheets are coming back for Liverpool

  5. Klein
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    What would you do here?
    Ramsdale button
    TAA chilwell kelly lundstram fredricks
    Salah maddi pulisic alli cantwell
    Vardy kane ings
    1ft 0.2itb
    Pulisic probably the first one to go.
    Thinking kane + puli to kdb + jimi/dcl but loosing kane before sou could be hard. Thoughts?

    1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Pulisic, Fredericks, Kane > Robbo, Martial, DCL

      1. Klein
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Go without kdb then?

  6. Party time
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I have used Martial to build up my TV this season. Bought him three times, sold him twice before the price drop & points in the bag too.

      I Love This Game!!!

      1. Camino Aleatorio
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        When martial moves, it’s like a rocket

        1. Party time
            4 years, 3 months ago

            😆 Absolutely! Now I want another price rise so when he decides to take a break. I can easily ditch again 🙂

        2. Whats the Huth
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          He’s a trap 😀

          1. Party time
              4 years, 3 months ago

              I know 😆 He is my trap

        3. Samian
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Does anyone know if I can still use my first wildcard before the next gameweek starts, or have I lost it? Thanks in advance

          1. Klein
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 3 months ago

            As far as i know its lost.

          2. George Agdgdgwngo
            • 14 Years
            4 years, 3 months ago

            Lost

        4. DAVESAVES
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          If you can’t afford TAA, would you pick Robbo or VVD?

          1. Danstoke82
            • 9 Years
            4 years, 3 months ago

            Think you have to find a way to get TAA in my opinion. The other two are great assets but TAA is smashing it

        5. Danstoke82
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Morning all, appreciate your thoughts on these moves? Now or wait?

          Kane + Alli > DCL + Salah

          Team;
          Henderson
          TAA Söyüncü Lundstram
          Mane KDB Alli Traore
          Kane Vardy Ings

          Subs; Stekelenberg Rico Cantwell BWilliams

          1FT £1.7ITB

          Thanks in advance.

          1. Goonsquad245
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 3 months ago

            At least wait until after the games today. If salah starts you probably don’t want to be bringing him in

          2. Kip
            • 10 Years
            4 years, 3 months ago

            Its madness to get rid of Alli imo. The lad is on form. He was really unlucky not to get double digits yesterday.

            1. Danstoke82
              • 9 Years
              4 years, 3 months ago

              My thoughts too but I need to double up on Mane and Salah at some point and Alli is the only way I can fund it

              1. Kip
                • 10 Years
                4 years, 3 months ago

                Not keen on Trent+Robbo? Top teams tend to tighten up in the 2nd half of the season and you dont have the captaincy headache week in week out

        6. Old Man
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Any rumours about the Liverpool line-up yet? I need the full works but I fear there'll be benchings/restings.

        7. Willmissudimitrypayet
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          Did Sidibe play rb in a normal 4-4-2 this game?