Scout Notes

Injury updates on Son, Saka and Burn ahead of BGW29 plus the Aubameyang latest

Four Premier League matches took place on Sunday, three of them involving clubs who will be in action in Blank Gameweek 29.

And there were possible repercussions for that decimated round of games in the form of injuries and unexpected benchings.

We’ll round up the main talking points below, with our more detailed Scout Notes to follow in the coming days.

ARSENAL 2-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Rashford fit to start but Martial, Cavani and de Gea miss out on West Ham clash 2

The north London derby was a dismal watch for most Fantasy managers with Tottenham Hotspur representation in their squads.

Son Heung-min (£9.6m) limped off with an injury, Gareth Bale (£9.5m) failed to make it to even the 60-minute mark and Harry Kane (£11.4m) was denied by an offside flag and a goalpost as Spurs’ three popular attacking assets accumulated just four points between them.

On Son’s issue, Jose Mourinho said:

That’s football. I don’t know how long it is. It’s muscular. Muscular is always not easy. He’s a guy that normally recovers very, very well from any kind of injury.

That’s an accumulation of matches. In the Europa League the other day, I gave him 30 minutes rest… but 60 is still 60. And when you are in so many competitions, some players they have more minutes than others, which is normal. It’s something that can happen.

Rashford fit to start but Martial, Cavani and de Gea miss out on West Ham clash 3

Bale was hooked because of what his manager described as a lack of “intensity”, meanwhile.

Spurs barely deserved the lead given to them by Erik Lamela‘s (£5.7m) rabona, with another effort on goal not arriving until the 70th minute.

After a quiet game, Kane belatedly found the net with a header that was flagged for offside before seeing a late free-kick smash against the hosts’ goalframe.

Arsenal turned the game around with a deflected effort from Martin Odegaard (£5.9m) and an Alexandre Lacazette (£8.1m) penalty.

Owners of the Gunners’ two most-popular assets were as much out of luck as those with Spurs’ in-demand players.

Bukayo Saka (£5.3m) was withdrawn at half-time with a hamstring injury, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.4m) was an unused substitute for disciplinary reasons.

Their manager explained:

We don’t know [about Saka]. He was feeling his hamstring.

[Aubameyang] was going to start the game. We had a disciplinary issue, we have drawn the line and we move on. We have a process that we have to respect for every game, and that’s it.

We deal with the situation on the day. That’s been done, now we move on.

MANCHESTER UNITED 1-0 WEST HAM UNITED

Injury updates on Son, Saka, and Burn ahead of BGW29 and Aubameyang latest 1

A fairly low-key match at Old Trafford ended up going the way of the hosts, with Manchester United edging out West Ham United by a single goal.

The Hammers set up in a conservative 3-5-2 and barely threatened Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, failing to register a single shot on target.

The Hammers were missing loanee Jesse Lingard (£6.1m) through ineligibility and Pablo Fornals (£5.9m) because of a minor adductor injury and we’ll surely see a more attacking set-up when David Moyes’ side entertains Arsenal next weekend.

This was the Red Devils’ eighth clean sheet in 14 matches this calendar year, with Luke Shaw’s (£5.2m) fantastic form continuing; he collected three bonus points to supplement his shut-out and now averages 6.8 points per match over his last nine games.

Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m) blanked for the third time in four matches but was a hair’s breadth from registering an assist, with Opta – and consequently FPL – deeming that Scott McTominay (£4.9m) got a feather touch on his 52nd-minute corner before Craig Dawson (£4.5m) turned the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Marcus Rashford (£9.5m) recovered from injury to feature, with Solskjaer offering a fitness update on more of his squad after full-time:

We actually hope five of them will be back [for Milan]. David [de Gea], hopefully, Donny [van de Beek], Edinson [Cavani], Paul [Pogba], maybe, and Anthony [Martial], hopefully – he’s very likely to be back.

SOUTHAMPTON 1-2 BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION

The latest on Dan Burn's injury ahead of Blank Gameweek 29

Brighton and Hove Albion warmed up for Blank Gameweek 29 – and a relegation six-pointer against Newcastle United – with a 2-1 victory over an out-of-sorts Southampton.

Lewis Dunk (£4.9m) will likely be a big target for those on a Free Hit chip or otherwise and he underscored his attacking threat by scoring his fourth league goal of the season; only Stuart Dallas (£5.0m) has more among FPL defenders.

Danny Welbeck (£5.5m), starting his first match in 2021, then teed up Leandro Trossard (£5.7m) for what turned out to be the game’s winner.

FPL managers who were hoping for appearance points at the very least from budget defender Dan Burn (£4.2m) next weekend face a nervous wait ahead of Graham Potter’s pre-match presser.

The towering defender was withdrawn at half-time as Potter made a successful move to a wing-back system but his substitution was actually enforced rather than tactical, with the Albion boss saying:

We lost Dan at half time with a tight hamstring. So we had to adapt and I thought we did it really well.

Che Adams (£5.8m) scored his third goal in as many games for Saints, who now take a back seat until after the March international break – when they should have Danny Ings (£8.4m) freshly available.

LEICESTER CITY 5-0 SHEFFIELD UNITED

Kelechi Iheanacho‘s (£5.6m) superb Fantasy Premier League form continued on Sunday as Leicester City thumped a Sheffield United side marooned at the foot of the Premier League table and starting life without Chris Wilder.

The Nigeria international hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over the managerless Blades, taking his total to five goals and 35 FPL points in his last three appearances.

Iheanacho has been flourishing alongside Jamie Vardy (£10.2m) since the budget FPL forward’s return to the Leicester starting XI in Gameweek 26, and has had over twice as many shots as the long-serving striker in that time.

Vardy again failed to find the target on Sunday but was as much a part of the Foxes’ victory as his strike partner, supplying three assists – two of them sublime passes for Iheanacho before Ethan Ampadu (£4.3m) deflected in his off-target effort – en route to his first double-digit haul since Gameweek 14.

The fit-again Ayoze Perez (£6.0m) also got in on the act by finding the net on his return from injury.

This was not a match to gauge the offensive threat or defensive competence of Brendan Rodgers’ troops, however, as Sheffield United turned in a thoroughly abject display under caretaker boss Paul Heckingbottom.

The Blades managed just one shot on goal as the hosts cruised to what was their first clean sheet in six matches.

Owners of Ricardo Pereira (£5.9m) couldn’t enjoy the routine shut-out, however, as the Portuguese full-back was withdrawn at half-time because of “tightness in his hamstring”.

GET IN-GAME DATA AT LIVE FPL

Check your own rank and in-play FPL stats on LiveFPL.net every Gameweek

368 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Ruinenlust
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Dunk up to 2 bonus

  2. Klip Klopp
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Probably time to pull the WC trigger now right?

    Martinez
    Cancelo / Reguillon / Stones
    Aubameyang / Son* / Bruno / Gundo
    Bamford* / Richarlson / Kane*

    Bench: Foster, Smith-Rowe, Coufal, Douglas**

    I still have WC, BB and TC

    1. jason_ni
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Why have you got a star on kane?

      Do you want a wc team based on those teams playing in 29?

      1. Klip Klopp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        Sorry yeah Kane is fit now. I want to get at least 9 players our next week if i dont wc

  3. Oooo Matron
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Any thoughts here? 2.0 mil itb & two free transfers:

    Martinez Schmeichel
    Dias Cancelo Digne Rudiger Dallas
    Raphina Fernandes Gundogan Son Salah
    Watkins DCL Bamford

    1. CoracAld2831
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Son --> Bale
      DCL --> Antonio

  4. jason_ni
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Worth a fh with the doubts around son and Bamford?
    Have 2fts to use as well, so if those 2 are out I'd be looking at fielding 7 after using ft.
    Martinez
    Cresswell - Veltman
    Raphina - Son*
    Kane - Bamford*

    1. GROBARI
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Is Bamford 100% out?

      1. dshv
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        No

    2. One Man
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Do FH mate. GW 33 is easily got over without a FH.

  5. OleBall
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Genuine question:

    Does Vardy's chance cleared off the line by Basham today, go down as a big chance missed by Vardy?

    1. lespaul
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Yep

  6. Fudgy
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    47k at the moment. Hopefully I can get another top 10k but it seems hard from this position

    1. Gross Blank Point
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      I went from 66K to 12K in two weeks, couple of lucky low owned picks and blanks from the big hitters and you're there

      1. Fudgy
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        Wow that's insane I wanna do that

  7. DycheDycheBaby
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    My BGW team is in tatters now with Bamford, Son and Pereira flagged. And I still need to get rid of Barnes !! Oh this is such fun 🙂

  8. CoracAld2831
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    My team:

    Johnstone-Areola
    Dunk-Digne-Dallas-Mings-Cresswell
    Fernandes-Gundo-KDB-Son-Soucek
    Bamford-Antonio-Watkins

    What to do for GW29?

    My suggestions:

    1. Bam, Son --> Kane, Raphinha
    2. Son, Gundo --> Bale, Raphinha/Trossard
    3. Fernandes, Bam ---> Auba, Maupay
    4. Son, Bam --> Auba, Maupay
    5. Son, Soucek --> Bale, Lingard
    6. Digne, Son --> Veltman, Bale/Auba
    7. Your suggestion?

    Suggestions appreciated.

    1. rjcv177
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      1 or 5

      1. Max City
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        This

  9. Champions League Varane
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Screw it, on FH. Thoughts?

    Dubravka
    White Dunk Veltman Lascelles Clark

    1. Starvaiger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Seems quite defensive.

    2. Alisson WondHaaland
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Can guarantee you a 1-1

      1. Champions League Varane
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        It’s a gamble and it’s fun! Both teams can’t lose it’s a must not lose game for both teams. 1-1 would be painful

    3. rjcv177
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      If u nail it...awesome stuff

      1. Champions League Varane
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        60+ bonus looks incredible but it looks too good to be true

        With Kane Auba Bale etc there could be some serious points in a low scoring week

        1. JJO
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 15 days ago

          *36

    4. One Man
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      I wouldn’t. Quite good forward options this week. Including Lingard, Bale Kane Auba Lac, and Antonio even Raphin

  10. JJeyy
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Gundogan to Lingard seems an easy transfer. Too much rotation and withdrawn with KDB in side.

    1. BrockLanders
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Yep

      1. FPLHaggis
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        I like it

    2. GROBARI
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Easy decision.

  11. GROBARI
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    DiMaria's family(wife and kids) have been kidnapped when he played a game for Paris today.Stay strong di maria...

    1. OleBall
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      He thought Manchester was bad...

    2. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Shite - horrible!!!

  12. FPLHaggis
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Do you think this will be alright for GW29?

    Dallas Targett Konsa Coufal
    Bale Raphinha (Son)
    Kane Bamford
    FT used

  13. g40steve
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Bamford & Son chances of 29?

    1. GROBARI
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Son 2%
      Bamford 60%

  14. Starvaiger
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    (Bad situation)
    Who would you rather have rest of the season:
    A) Mane
    B) Stirling

    1. Alisson WondHaaland
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      A

    2. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Not much in it...

    3. the dom 1
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      A

  15. Alisson WondHaaland
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Best cheap mid for next 2 weeks? (Apart from Raph)

    A) J lingz
    B) Trossard
    C) Lookman
    D) El Ghazi

    1. rjcv177
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Lingz

    2. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      A

  16. rjcv177
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    After all these twists and turns, i might pull the WC along the BB30

    Martinez
    Cresswell, reguilon, Dallas, Andersen
    Bale, lingz, raphinha, lookman
    Kane, bamford

    Mendy, dcl, Mount, digne/alonso

    Should i adress auba or city attack for Leicester away? By 31 i'll have 2FT to deal with fixture swing

  17. Ajax Hamsterdam
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Reckon auba will start v west ham?

    1. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Y

  18. dshv
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Son to bale(-4)

    Have 8 players for 29 ??

    Or if son is out just for 29.. then keep ?

    Opinions ?

    1. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      I’m keeping

  19. tommo1989
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Do we think Son has any chance of playing in the next GW? Just wondering whether to transfer to Bale now as bought Son at 9.0 and he’s currently 9.6 so take the 9.3?

    1. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      No, but should be back for 30

      Bale was terrible today

  20. FCSB
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Martinez
    Konsa Coufal Dallas
    Bale Soucek Aubameyang Lingard
    Kane Bamford

    Can get this for -8 ... missing anything?

    1. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      What are the two hits?

      1. FCSB
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        Transfers would be:

        Robertson >> Dallas
        Son >> Bale
        Gundogan >> Lingard
        Salah >> Aubameyang

        Thoughts ?

        1. The Suspended One
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 15 days ago

          Son to Bale is rife with risk, rotation, injury, fomo

          Salah to Auba is a consideration for me but worried about rotation

          Like the others, wouldn’t be in a rush for the two above

          1. FCSB
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 15 days ago

            Yes I’m reluctant on Son to Bale just in case Son is back for 30 after IB

            I plan to BB30 then WC31

            Maybe I just do Dallas and then either Lingard or Auba and don’t take any hits

            1. The Suspended One
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 10 Years
              3 years, 15 days ago

              Yeah Robbo gundo to Dallas lingz and wait on news

  21. The Suspended One
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    A) Dawson/Dunk
    B) Veltman/Dallas

    1. FCSB
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      B but not too keen on Brighton for 30

      1. The Suspended One
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 15 days ago

        Or for the rest of the season really...

  22. AzzaroMax99
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Would you do M.Pereira+Gundo+Pereira to Raph+Bale+Aina (-4)?
    If Bamford is fit, that would give me 9 bgw29 players.

    1. AzzaroMax99
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      team for gw29 then:

      Martinez
      Dallas White Aina
      Bale Raph
      Kane(C) Bamford Antonio

  23. HellasLEAF
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Was Bamford injury serious?

    Odds are he returns for next GW?

  24. wulfrunian
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    34 points all out.30k fall and outside 100k.Worst gw of the season.

  25. the dom 1
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Must say this GW has been strange. Hoping Salah can give me a boost.

  26. The Royal Robin
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Arsenal fans

    Do you think Odegaard will be a decent pick for the next few?

  27. Sgt Frank Drebin
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    If it wasn't for the blank GW and United's difficult fixtures in the double, I would get Shaw long time ago. It just further proves to me that preparing for the blank for many weeks does more harm than good. You load up on poor players just to get 2pts from them in one GW. The same story is for Chelsea defenders, if it wasn't for the blank I would get Rudiger couple of GWs ago.

    1. Sgt Frank Drebin
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      If let's say player A has 4 expexted points for 3 fixtures in a row and you decide for a player that has 3 expected points instead but plays in blank that's basically the same. I wonder if it maybe makes more sense to just ignore the blank and pick the best players. Some proper calculations are needed though.

    2. michaelington
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      I think next season I will play my own tactic and ignore the blanks. I get dragged into preparing for the blanks love everyone else.
      Unless there’s some plum fixtures then it really doesn’t make much difference as you’re likely to just get 2 pointers.

  28. Max City
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Too many "tight hamstrings" in one article

  29. michaelington
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    Really annoying that we won’t know if there’s a dgw30 before the 29 deadline.

  30. Max City
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 15 days ago

    I had 9 BGW players with 2FT, that would give me 11 BGW players without a hit..

    but now Son and Bamford are flagged.. I'm not sure if I would even plan for BGW 29 anymore

    1. JBG
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 15 days ago

      Just start both(unless you get really bad news before deadline on both injuries) and do what you planned to do all along.