Scout Notes

Grealish and his FPL owners frustrated as Lampard keeps us guessing with selection

Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea

  • Goals: Kortney Hause (£4.4m) | Christian Pulisic (£6.9m), Olivier Giroud (£6.6m)
  • Assists: None | Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.9m) x2
  • Bonus: Azpilicueta x3, Giroud x2, Pulisic x1

Arsenal and Sheffield United assets mostly disappointed in their second Gameweek 30+ fixtures and there was little joy for Fantasy managers in part two of Aston Villa’s double-header.

Kortney Hause (£4.4m), owned by 0.1% of Fantasy Premier League bosses and just one manager inside the top 10,000, was the only Villan to score more than two points in Sunday’s defeat against Chelsea, whose second-half comeback left Dean Smith’s side rooted in the relegation zone.

The Villa boss had named an unchanged side for the encounter with Frank Lampard’s troops, meaning another start up front for the ‘out of position’ and misclassified FPL midfielder Keinan Davis (£4.4m).

Davis had looked sharp in the goalless draw with Sheffield United but he was starved of service here, failing to register a single shot or penalty box touch before being replaced in the 57th minute.

Jack Grealish (£6.4m) saw slightly more of the ball but plenty of grass, too, being fouled nine times (the most of any player in Gameweek 30+) as Chelsea sought to thwart Villa’s talisman through any means necessary.

Grealish’s on-field frustrations mirrored those of his owners off it, with the most-bought FPL asset of this Double Gameweek compounding a second successive blank by being booked for a petulant foul in injury time.

Hause had given Villa the lead shortly before half-time, following up his own saved shot to break the deadlock.

The centre-half has caught the eye at attacking set plays in Double Gameweek 30+ but his manager praised his defensive contributions ahead of Wednesday’s match at Newcastle United, saying:

It looks like he’s got a really good partnership going with Tyrone Mings. The back four has looked really solid, which has been pleasing because we have been leaking chances and goals previously. With Bjorn Engels being injured as well.

Villa had defended reasonably well until Chelsea’s two-goal salvo on the hour-mark, with the visitors dominating possession but not crafting a real clear-cut opportunity until Christian Pulisic (£6.9m) fired the Blues level from Cesar Azpilicueta‘s (£5.9m) cross.

The Chelsea right-back was at it again two minutes later, assisting what turned out to be the winner in the shape of Olivier Giroud‘s (£6.6m) deflected strike.

Many of us will be looking at Chelsea assets from Gameweek 32+ onwards but settling on the right player or a combination of them will prove troublesome.

Lampard has a huge squad available to him for the run-in, with Jorginho‘s (£4.9m) imminent return from suspension only swelling the ranks.

A prime example is Tammy Abraham (£7.5m), the most-bought Chelsea asset of Gameweek 30+.

Over 200,000 FPL managers took the plunge on the striker ahead of last Wednesday’s deadline but he found himself only named among the substitutes at Villa Park, emerging for the dreaded one-pointer after the break.

Abraham was a regular starter when fit from Gameweeks 3-25 but Giroud’s fine pre-lockdown form earned him another run-out in the Midlands and the veteran Frenchman’s goal will only increase the ongoing uncertainty over when and how often his positional rival will get game-time.

Pulisic is another asset capable of some explosive returns but only did so from the bench on Sunday, with Lampard opting to start a rusty-looking Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£6.3m) down the left flank instead.

The Chelsea boss said of those two players:

I’m delighted for Ruben to be back in the fold. He’s got in the team on his own merit and for the way that he’s worked for a long time now. In the last few weeks he’s looked good and strong. We have to give him some time to adapt but I felt it was a good game for him to bring his physicality and something different.

He’s going to get much better. It’s been a long time since he last played but he has so much to give us a team and a squad. There were glimpses of it today but there’s much more to come.

The individuals who make the difference should always take all the credit so with Christian and Ross Barkley, who came on at the same time, they’re both players who have trained well and had cases to start this game.

I had some good selection problems and you have to consider the type of game. We knew that fitness would play a part so the idea of bringing on Christian and Ross early in the second half was always something that was in my mind depending on how the game went.

There was at least the familiar sight of Mason Mount (£6.2m) on the pitch, with Lampard’s most-trusted lieutenant keeping up his ever-present record.

Mount has started in 26 of his 30 league appearances this season and was arguably Chelsea’s brightest player throughout, with the three-month break looking like it had done the energetic midfielder the world of good after an arduous 2019/20 campaign.

Buzzing across the pitch from left to right, Mount drew a smart stop out of Orjen Nyland (£4.3m) and fizzed a low ball across the Villa goalkeeper’s six-yard box that evaded both defence and attack.

The young midfielder was namechecked by his manager after the match but it was Azpilicueta who Lampard reserved the most praise for:

I thought Azpi was really good in the game. Obviously he delivers the ball for Christian’s goal and got really high up in areas. We worked a lot before the game on how we wanted to attack and down the right-hand side was certainly an area for us to try to exploit.

Willian, Mason Mount when he moved to that side and Azpi with his energy to keep joining was a huge point of attack for us and eventually, we got the breakthrough from that. He showed his leadership and his quality.

While Azpilicueta delivered the goods, there was no such joy for Marcos Alonso (£6.2m).

The premium FPL defender was collateral damage of that decision to funnel play down the Villa left and he duly blanked, something he hadn’t previously done when starting a Premier League game this season.

The availability of Reece James (£5.1m), whose Gameweek 30+ benching was perhaps as much fitness-related as it was tactical, will also cause week-to-week jitters among Alonso’s owners going forward and the Spaniard remains a high-risk, high-reward punt.

As for Villa assets, Smith’s side at least have a not-too-awful Gameweek 31+ clash with Newcastle United to come, which acts as a bit of a buffer before the fixtures turn really bad.

The Magpies have been resilient at St James Park this season and demolished ten-man Sheffield United 3-0 on Sunday but Steve Bruce’s side does have an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City looming large next weekend and this may not be a terrible time to play them, especially as they are well clear of the drop zone and have relatively little to play for in the league.

Smith knows that getting Grealish on the ball and ticking on Tyneside will be key to their chances:

You’ve got to feed him the ball, yesterday we never had enough of the ball to feed him. After two games, I expect him to be right at it against Newcastle.

Members Analysis

Access the full Aston Villa v Chelsea match data here

Double Gameweek 30+ FPL Lessons Learned

1,251 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Wild Rover
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    No KDB, Sterling or Laporte 😯

    😆

    1. FPL Pillars
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Classic pep

    2. beric
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Too good!

    3. CroatianHammer
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      There was an early leak I believe...

      #ManCity team news; #kdb #sterling #laporte all benched. #aguero starts!! #fpl #FPLCommunity @LetsTalk_FPL @ffscout_az @FFScout_Joe— FPL_Subscribe (@SubscribeFpl) June 22, 2020

  2. YouReds
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Leave me with a brace as a parting gift please Mahrez

  3. Sailboats
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Rip

  4. Coys96
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Love you pep

  5. The_Fish
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Get in. Fellow Kun captainers unite.

    1. EL tridente
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Not really good for Aguero that they play with such a weak lineup.

  6. Steinburg FC
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Lets go Mahrez!!!

  7. goriuanx
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    With KDB benched, let's see how many clear cut chances Aguero gets

    1. Annie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Zero, he’ll blank

    2. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Dilva will sort it

  8. Bruce Lee
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    That genuinley is such a nice link up for me

    My 2 ML rivals with KDB TC can get in the bin right now

  9. Rainer
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Well done to the Foden punter.

  10. Chenku╰☆╮
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Pep wants to hand the title to Liverpool. confirmed.

    1. Qaiss
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Wants to beat Chelsea on Thursday and beat Liverpool so they don't win it at the Etihad

  11. FPL Pillars
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Oooooh crap

  12. MarkoSD
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Rmt Wc team
    Pope
    Justin taa doherty
    Sarr kdb grealish bruno
    Vardy jimmy kun
    Button saka basham kelly
    0.4 itb

  13. Differential C (Mark)
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    PHOOOOODENNNNNN!!! MY BOI ABOUT TO OUTSCORE ALL OF THEM.

  14. SouthCoastSaint
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Aguero captainer and Mahrez owner!!

    Only on 84 points and owned Leno and Egan! Deserve to finish this week on a high!!!

    1. Wild Rover
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Me too. Also own KDG but hey, who doesn't? Many have him capt so great result (so far)

  15. Brosstan
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Classic Pep the POS

  16. Nightcrawler
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Mahrez statting is nice at least now i have someine ti cheer for in the game

    Hopefully jesus and kdb get 30 mins too

    1. goriuanx
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Ameen

  17. Niho992
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    No Sterling. Another 6 goals from City incoming.

  18. Bedknobs and Boomsticks
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    What!? Burnley's sub keeper is called Peacock-Farrell? That's amazing.

    1. jason_ni
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      NI #1.. decent keeper

  19. FPL_Devil
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    No captain Laporte. Sadness. Although tbh I deserve this with my captain choice

  20. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Funny how people still try to claim they can predict peps lineups.

    So and so is assured minutes 😆

  21. Botman and Robben
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Only have Kun playing.

  22. PascalCygan
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    C'mon Sergio!

  23. jason_ni
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Nice one, mahrez, Kdb, Kun(c) capper here.

    Kdb eo makes his benching not so bad!

  24. SHOOTER MCGINN
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Wow. Mahrez better deliver something and hope Sterling at least gets on the pitch.

  25. The Red Devil
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Oh damn that city lineup

  26. Mambino
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    if you own Aguero and KDB with C on Aguero is it good that KDB is benched or not?

    1. Brosstan
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      of course...

    2. L'Aeroplanino
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      KDB may still come on

    3. Mini Mahouse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Yeah very good - I'm in this situation super happy with KDB benching, dream would be if he doesn't feature

    4. Forza
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Good. KDB has more than 150% effective ownership in the top 10k.

  27. L'Aeroplanino
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Mahrez owners rejoice!
    KDB benching foreseeable, if Kun explodes today then congrats to Cappers

  28. diesel001
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    As a Aguero(c), Mahrez, KDB owner this is a good start. But there is a lot that needs to happen for it to finish well. Still expect Aguero and Mahrez to flop and KDB and Sterling to get late assists / goals.

  29. Albrightondknight
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Think I am happy with Mahrez and Kun(C)
    KDB EO probably hurts anyway.

  30. Pep Roulette
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    So keeping Sterling & KDB. Selling Aguero!