Scout Notes

Can Robertson sustain value advantage over Alexander-Arnold after 10-point haul?

Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal

  • Goals: Sadio Mané (£11.9m), Andrew Robertson (£7.0m), Diogo Jota (£6.3m) | Alexandre Lacazette (£8.5m)
  • Assists: Mohamed Salah (£12.1m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m)
  • Bonus points: Alexander-Arnold x3, Robertson x2, Mané x1

Robbo’s Return

Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) is fast making a case to be considered the best Fantasy Premier League asset among Liverpool defenders this season.

His goal and 10-point haul against Arsenal took him to a total of 20 for the season so far, behind only Timothy Castagne (£5.7m), Tyrone Mings (£5.0m) and Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) among all defenders after three Gameweeks.

Crucially, the left-back is ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) by a total of five points and, unlike his right-sided counterpart, is yet to blank this season.

Robertson assisted in Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Leeds, kept a clean sheet at Chelsea and found the net against Arsenal. In that time, Alexander-Arnold blanked against Leeds, before stringing together two seven-point scores in Gameweeks 2 and 3.

While the right-back is not too far behind his colleague, at a time when Wildcards are the talk of the town, the fact that Robertson is proving better value, by 2.9 points per million spent to 2.0, will not have gone unnoticed.

There is no denying that Robertson is in great form right now but Alexander-Arnold owners will certainly feel rather unfortunate not to come out of Gameweek 3 with more attacking returns.

Alexander-Arnold’s persistence

The right-back enjoyed an evening defined by a constant stream of trademark balls into the box, fired in from deep – and he could easily have racked up a hat-trick of assists.

In the 11th minute, he put up an excellent ball for Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m), whose header back across goal was denied on the line by David Luiz (£5.5m).

Three minutes later, Alexander-Arnold fired in another delightful cross, met by an onrushing Sadio Mané (£11.9m), whose powerful effort was well-saved by Bernd Leno (£5.0m).

Then, in the 20th minute, the right-back unleashed his own shot from range which deflected through a crowd of bodies onto the crossbar.

In the end, Alexander-Arnold’s perseverance in the cross paid off when he found Robertson at the back post to poke home and put Liverpool 2-1 up.

Such a display, which came with maximum bonus points, is almost certainly enough to keep 

Latest on the Defensive double-up

Is there still value in the Liverpool double-up? Perhaps not on the clean sheet front, but the attacking returns are helping Alexander-Arnold and Robertson offer plenty of points potential between them.

The Reds are still waiting for their first home clean sheet of the campaign, and they have registered just two from a possible eight since February 24, but their full-backs still scored 17 points between them on Monday night.

That seems to be indicative of what this Liverpool team is all about right now. We have seen this side operate on a ‘risk-versus-reward’ basis for some time now. It is something that will lead to the concession of poor goals, as we have seen against Leeds and Arsenal now, but it also adds to how dangerous Liverpool are at Anfield.

In fact, Alexander-Arnold and Robertson were the very men at fault for Alexandre Lacazette‘s (£9.5m) first-half strike. The right-back was caught stranded high up the pitch, allowing Ainsley Maitland-Niles (£4.9m) to press into leftover space, while Robertson was the man whose clearance went straight to Lacazette’s feet.

But, considering their exploits further up the field led to Liverpool winning the game 3-1, and each full-back coming away with attacking returns, Jurgen Klopp will have no complaints, and maybe Fantasy managers shouldn’t either.

“I didn’t see us really being sloppy in defending. I saw us in one or two passing situations when we gave the ball too easy away, which is just then a problem because to outplay Arsenal you need a quite expansive formation. Losing the ball without any pressure on yourself, that doesn’t make too much sense, that can really hurt you. So in these moments yes, but our defending was really good, really good, because you cannot defend Arsenal for 90 minutes with the quality they have. It’s completely normal that they have chances [and] you need a goalie for that, you need a block for that, you need all these kind of things.” – Jurgen Klopp

Magic Mané

Meanwhile, Mané insists on pushing Mohamed Salah (£12.1m) for Fantasy returns once again this season. With three goals in as many matches, the Senegalese international is now only three points behind his Egyptian colleague and, arguably looked the sharper of the two on Monday night.

While Salah had an evening characterised by snatched shots, and in some cases, snatching them away from his colleagues, Mané had the more clear cut opportunities.

He was on hand to gobble up the rebound from Salah’s shot in the 28th minute, and, just after the hour-mark, he clipped wide after a well-worked one-two with Roberto Firmino (£9.4m).

Furthermore, Mané has had the edge over Salah in away matches for the last year, with eight goals on the road to the Egyptian’s four since the start of last season. That particular statistic bodes well for him considering that three of Liverpool’s next five Premier League matches take them away from Anfield.

Meanwhile, Salah owners will feel a little unlucky not to have seen the Egyptian leave Gameweek 3 with two assists. He made an excellent run inside from his right-attacking-midfield station, across Arsenal’s defensive line and fed substitute Diogo Jota (£6.3m) on the left. The former Wolves man looked certain to score, but could only ruffle the side-netting.

And if we are focussing on Liverpool’s road-trip contributions last season, none of Salah’s colleagues registered more assists away from home in 2019/20, Robertson and Alexander-Arnold matching his total of six from over 200 more minutes each.

Time to consider Lacazette?

We are certainly at the point where the Fantasy community should start considering Lacazette for their squads.

Thankfully for the one million FPL managers who sold Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.9m) for Gameweek 3, it was the Frenchman who, once again, represented the chief goal threat for Arsenal.

Lacazette was in the right place to capitalise on Robertson’s 25th-minute error and had two other gilt-edged chances to score at Anfield before Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m) replaced him in the 73rd minute.

That made for a seven-point haul in Gameweek 3, his third of the campaign, which takes him to a total of 21. That is only one less than the similarly-priced Danny Ings (£8.4m) and Richarlison (£8.0m).

Crucially, it also means that Lacazette is one of the most reliable Fantasy assets thus far, yet to blank and about to face Sheffield United (home), Manchester City (away) and Leicester City (home). Each of those clubs has conceded at least four times this season, giving up an average of 1.75 goals per game.

Perhaps the only thing that counts against Lacazette is his game-time. Given his scoring record, it seems unlikely that Arteta will bench him anytime soon, but it is still worth noting that he is yet to complete 90 minutes this season, averaging 78.3 per outing in 2020/21. 

Latest from the managers

Thiago Silva in action for Liverpool

There were plenty of developments on the injury front for this game. Thiago Alcantara (£6.0m) was missing for Liverpool, but Joe Gomez (£5.4m) slotted back into central defence and James Milner (£5.4m) returned from his yellow flag on the bench.

“After the international break, (Thiago) will be fine, for sure. That’s the situation, in the moment. He is not fit enough to be involved today, but that’s it.” – Jurgen Klopp

Kieran Tierney (£5.4m) was back for Arsenal, which should boost their already strong clean sheet potential for the Sheffield United game. There is perhaps less certainty about starters in the Gunners’ back-three than before Monday night though, as new signing Gabriel (£5.1m) was left on the bench, Arteta preferring David Luiz (£5.5m).

“(Gabriel) has done really well, adapted really well. He’s played a few games already with us. David [Luiz] has huge experience and has played here many, many times. He gives us something different.” – Mikel Arteta

Liverpool XI (4-3-3): Alisson; Robertson, van Dijk, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold; Keita (Milner 79′), Wijnaldum, Fabinho; Mané (D Jota 80′), Firmino (Minamino 90+1′), Salah.

Arsenal XI (3-4-3): Leno; Tierney, D Luiz, Holding; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka (Ceballos 60′), Elneny, Bellerín; Aubameyang, Lacazette (Nketiah 74′), Willian (Pépé 68′).

PREMIUM MEMBERS ANALYSIS

PREMIUM MEMBERS AREA HOME PAGE

Lessons Learned from FPL Gameweek 3

1,707 Comments Post a Comment
  1. SirT83
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    WC-
    A: Castagne (Justin out, long term since Pereira will come back) and Zaha

    B- Justin and a 8 million midfielder (Willian, Rodriguez, Greenwood, Grealish)
    B with possibility to go Zyiech as soon as he is ready.

    1. Stormbringer22
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Do you have cover for Justin when he loses his spot? A is good but not with Zaha - Grealish or Trossard better options

      1. SirT83
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Have Trossard. Playing 352.
        Yeah, got Saiss, Robbo and Lamptey with Mitchell as well.

  2. tc93
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Quick 1 or 2 lads:
    1) VVD + Hames
    2) Robbo + Zaha

    On WC-- already have DCL.

    1. Stormbringer22
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      2. Robbo + Grealish/Trossard

      1. tc93
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Over Zaha???

        1. Stormbringer22
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Definitely

          1. tc93
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 6 months ago

            For what reasons?

            1. Stormbringer22
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 4 Years
              3 years, 6 months ago

              Zaha will play the way he does at the moment until the transfer window shuts down, he hasn't moved to any bigger club, loses his motivation and stops banging them in. We also can't know that he will keep playing OOP and may soon be stuck back on that wing.

        2. SirT83
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          I agree that Trossard is as good a choice as Zaha, not Grealish though.

          1. tc93
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 6 months ago

            Why though?!?

            1. SirT83
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 6 months ago

              Underlying stats are not too far away from eachother. Trossard is 1.2m less. He also had 2-3 post shots last game against United. Brighton looks really good. Brighton has a higher xG than crystal Palace, even though they've met better teams.

            2. SirT83
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 6 months ago

              Ps. I have both on my WC team. So not saying Zaha is a bad choice. Just would not go without Trossard.

  3. Steve The Spud
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Love a Wednesday, hope starting to build that this weekend will be different and we’ll turn a corner

    Can’t get any worse surely!

    1. Stormbringer22
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I hardly feel motivated after such a poor start 😀

      1. Steve The Spud
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        If I can just get a green arrow I’ll be content

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

    Help please:

    TAA, Lamptey, Klich with 0.4 ITB
    OR
    Robertson, Barnes, Mitchell with 0 in the ITB

    1. Stormbringer22
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

    2. Roy Rovers
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A for me.

  5. Slam
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Last WC dilemma DZ

    A) Robertson + Soucek (4-4-2)
    B) Mitchell + Ings (3-4-3)

    Cheers

    1. Stormbringer22
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

    2. AnfieldLad
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Bit confused, you aren’t playing Mitchell in a 3-4-3 are you? Probably A

      1. Slam
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        No and I wouldn’t be playing Soucek in the 4-4-2 either.

        Should’ve made it more clear

    3. Roy Rovers
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

  6. Messien
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Hey guys on WC right now, any suggestions?

    Thinking on
    A) Mahrez + Jimi
    B) Mitro/Bamford + KDB

    Ryan/McCarthy
    TAA-Robbo-Ayling / Justin-Mitchell
    Barnes-Salah-KDB-Pereira / Mendy
    DCL-Mitro-Ings
    0ITB

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Will Justin & Mitchell still have their place in a few weeks time?

      1. Roy Rovers
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        ^ Probably not.

  7. Roysgotnoboys
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Who would you bench here? Wilson or Justin? (Assuming Podence is fit by deadline)

    McCarthy
    Saiss, TAA, James
    KBD, Salah, Podence, Havertz
    DCL, Ings, Wilson

    (Justin?)

    1. No Professionals
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yeah justin

      1. Roy Rovers
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        This ^

  8. No Professionals
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    What to do

    Martinez
    Robertson James Saiss
    Salah KDB Son Foden
    Werner DCL Bamford

    Steer Taylor Mitchell Alzate
    0.3m is 1ft

    A) Werner to ings(c)
    B) Werner to Jimenez(c)
    C) son to zaha
    D) son to barnes

    C or D allows Werner to vardy week after (or this week for a hit)

    1. Roy Rovers
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I would keep Werner for the next 2 and if he goes well he has great fixture 7 > 14. So for me it is C or D with C probably edging it as he may have pens now.

    2. Jimjam
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      C or D

    1. beric
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Looks like brixton

      1. La Roja
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Yep

  9. Roy Rovers
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    2.5ITB.....am I okay for this GW?

    McCarthy
    TAA James Justin
    Bruno KDB Podence Soucek
    Jimmi (C) Werner Ings (V)

    Button Bissouma Taylor Mitchell

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      If pod is fit

      1. Roy Rovers
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Cheers Holmes. Can’t see Bissouma getting much away at Everton but you never know!!

  10. OPTA FPL
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Save FT?

    Martinez

    Digne Saiss Justin (Lamptey Dunne)

    Salah Bruno KDB Grealish (Bisssouma)

    Jiminez DCL Maupay

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yep

    2. Roy Rovers
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Keep an eye on Justin & Dunne...everything else all good.

    3. Jimjam
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yes, looks good

  11. Jimjam
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    McCarthy (Steer)
    TAA, Saiss, Davies, Justin (Mitchell)
    Salah, KDB, Son, Podence (Bissouma)
    Werner, Ings (Davis)

    1FT, 0.5 in bank

    (A) Son --> Mahrez
    (B) Son, Werner --> Mahrez, Vardy (-4)

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

  12. Holmes
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Pretty dead here today, looks like majority had a poor GW 😀

    1. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Been like that all week lots gone into hibernation after that horror GW

  13. Live Lad
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    (1) Son to Mahrez?
    Better short-term pick than Zaha/ Barnes?

    (2) I can do Son + Kane to Jimmy + Bruno (-4)

    1 or 2?

  14. fuzzymike
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Hey fellas, thoughts on these 2 options:
    1 Justin & Trossard or Pereira
    2 Castagne & Kouyaté

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

      1

  15. Teo_2197
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Pick one:

    Davies to Robertson (leaving 0 ITB)

    ASM to Barnes (leaving 0.4 ITB)

    Full team is

    Ramsdale

    Trent Davies KWP Justin Mitchell

    Salah KDB Rodriguez ASM Bissouma

    Werner DCL Adams

    I prefer Robbo to Barnes but replacing ASM next week with only 5.4 looks difficult. If I make the ASM to Barnes swap then I can simply downgrade Davies to Lamptey next week. Thoughts?

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

      Asm to barnes

  16. Geraaaard
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    McCarthy (Steer)
    TAA, Taylor, Justin (Mitchell, douglas)
    Salah, KDB, Son, Podence (Bissouma)
    Werner, Ings, mitro
    1ft, 0.5itb

    A. Son to Zaha/ barnes

    B. Son, Werner to zaha , vardy/kane

    C.Son, werner to fernandes/sterling, dcl/ricarlinson

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

    Too smart going Richarlison over DCL? DCL ownership at 35% and rising. Got to get in that bandwagon.

  18. CERVELO
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    6.8 to spend in forward.

    Looking at either Wilson or Bamford - thoughts? Any other options - have DCL and Jimmy.