Leicester City 0-1 Manchester City
- Goal: Gabriel Jesus (£9.5m)
- Assist: Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m)
- Bonus: Kasper Schmeichel (£5.3m) x3, Mahrez x2, Jesus x1
Gabriel Jesus (£9.5m) came off the bench to score the winner for Manchester City as Sergio Aguero (£12.0m) blanked for a third straight Gameweek.
The contrast in fortunes of the two strikers could not have been more marked at the King Power Stadium – Jesus, in 13 minutes, matched Aguero, who he replaced, for attempts, shots on target and penalty area touches.
And while the Brazilian secured the three points following a fine run from the excellent Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m), the Argentinian capped a miserable day by missing a penalty.
Aguero’s FPL ownership has more than doubled since he racked up 20 points in Gameweek 22’s 6-1 demolition of Aston Villa and he had treated some of the early adopters to a further 17 points before his troubles began with a Gameweek 25 blank.
He’s now managed just four points from the past three starts and with Blank Gameweek 28 incoming, Fantasy managers have had enough.
Close to 140,000 sold him before the Leicester game and another 70,000+ have made him the early front runner for sales heading into next weekend.
Many of those transfers could well involve a straight swap with Jamie Vardy (£9.7m), who currently happens to be the most popular purchase of Gameweek 28 despite having failed to score since Gameweek 18.
The Leicester striker came the closest to breaking the deadlock for the home side on Saturday, hitting the post when one-on-one with City keeper Ederson (£6.0m), and it proved to be a costly miss thanks, in part, to VAR.
The mystery-makers of Stockley Park were at it again on Saturday evening, denying Leicester two possible penalties, the second of which – when Ederson took out Kelechi Iheanacho (£5.7m) – appeared to be of the nailed-on variety.
At the other end, meanwhile, a block involving Dennis Praet‘s (£5.3m) outstretched arm did result in a VAR-awarded spot-kick, which Aguero promptly had saved by the excellent Kasper Schmeichel (£5.3m).
That was City’s fourth straight penalty miss, involving four different players. None of them go by the name Kevin De Bruyne (£10.8m), however, so his 53.5% ownership could be in for a treat the next time Pep Guardiola’s side are awarded a chance from 12 yards.
The coach seemed to suggest as much when asked after the game.
He’s (De Bruyne) one option, but in the end, they (the players) decide. It’s not normal for the quality we have, but like I said to them the next one we’re going to score and the taker be convinced, practise and be convinced and do it.
Despite all that, even the blessed Belgian is seeing sales as City’s schedule turns both nasty and quiet.
A Blank Gameweek 31 is highly likely to happen unless both they and Chelsea are knocked out of the FA Cup, and there are clashes with Manchester United and Liverpool either side of that anyway.
Rumour of a possible Double Gameweek 29 remain exactly that, meanwhile, with nothing but Twitter talk to support that theory.
Investment in their key players is obviously a no-go this week, which is a shame for the few brave souls (all 2.1% of them) who have enjoyed Aymeric Laporte’s (£6.3m) return from injury.
Clean sheets have been kept in all three of his starts from Gameweek 24 onwards, and Laporte was just three minutes away from picking up a least another six-pointer when Guardiola subbed him off for Nicolas Otamendi (£5.0m).
The City boss said:
He asked me to be substituted, but he’s not injured. He’s been four months, five months injured, we can’t forget that. He had to run a lot. It was different against West Ham, we could control it easier. He’s ok.
Waiting a measly three more minutes before taking Laporte off would have been very much ok for his ownership as well, but such is Fantasy life.
Instead, the biggest defensive haul on the day belonged to Schmeichel, with a penalty save, another five stops and the maximum bonus award bringing in 12 points.
And while interest in City players is understandably on the wane, Leicester’s best are enjoying something of a boom, with Schmeichel one of nine Foxes in the top 30 for transfers-in.
A brief look at their schedule explains everything. The next four fixtures involve four of the current bottom six, with Everton and Crystal Palace to follow before things turn trickier again from Gameweek 34.
But it’s worth bearing in mind that Leicester are also likely to miss Gameweek 31 unless they fail to beat Birmingham City in the FA Cup fifth round.
And the Foxes’ form is not overly inspiring either, with just one win and two draws in six league matches since New Year’s Day.
That run coincides with the current barren spell being endured by James Maddison (£7.4m), who with more than 11,000 new owners, is Gameweek 28’s third most popular signing.
His free-kick forced one smart save from Ederson, while another led to a penalty appeal for handball by De Bruyne to be denied by VAR – a decision that Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers was less than impressed by:
I can’t believe we didn’t get a penalty. It is probably the reason why VAR was brought in. Kevin De Bruyne has his hands up, he’s blocking his face, all the other players are jumping with their hands down and it hits his arm. If you see the flight of the ball, it’s heading towards the goal. For me, it was a clear penalty.
Maddison will be hoping for better luck against his former club, Norwich, next time out; a fixture that Fantasy managers are clearly finding hard to resist when it comes to bringing in Leicester players.
The big question surrounding Manchester City’s assets is whether to sell now or hold for the better fixtures and double Gameweeks to come further down the line.
Leicester City XI (5-3-2): Schmeichel; Pereira, Soyuncu, Evans, Fuchs (Perez 90′), Chilwell; Tielemans, Praet (James 85′), Maddison; Vardy, Iheanacho (Barnes 45′).
Manchester City XI (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Laporte (Otamendi 58′), Fernandinho, Mendy; Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, De Bruyne, B Silva; Aguero (Jesus 77′).
