We continue our more detailed Scout Notes of the Gameweek 2 action with a look at Southampton v Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur.
SOUTHAMPTON 1-1 MANCHESTER UNITED
- Goals: Mason Greenwood (£7.6m)
- Own goals: Fred (£5.0m)
- Assists: Che Adams (£7.0m) | Paul Pogba (£7.7m)
- Bonus: Greenwood x3, Luke Shaw x2 (£5.5m), Mohammed Salisu x1 (£4.5m)
Manchester United left St Mary’s Stadium with only one point after a 1-1 draw against Southampton.
The Saints took the lead after 30 minutes via a deflected Che Adams (£7.0m) effort which turned out to be a Fred (£5.0m) own goal. However, United fought back in the second-half, eventually equalising through Mason Greenwood (£7.6m).
For United, Jadon Sancho (£9.4m) appeared off the bench on 59 minutes, replacing the ineffective Anthony Martial (£7.9m), while Raphael Varane (£5.5m) was an unused substitute.
As a result of their draw, it’s now 27 games in a row without defeat for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in Premier League away games.
GREENWOOD AND POGBA CONTINUE IMPRESSIVE STARTS
For the opening hour, Greenwood was relocated from his Gameweek 1 centre-forward role to a wider position to accommodate Martial, but still found the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
United’s no. 11 has only registered a combined four shots in the box across the opening two rounds, but is certainly making them count, while it’s also worth noting that he took four of the Red Devils’ seven corners on Sunday.
As for Paul Pogba (£7.7m), the Frenchman collected a fifth assist of the season after teeing up Greenwood for his equaliser, and produced some classy moments as he continued in a more advanced role. In fact, no player on the pitch had more penalty area touches than Pogba on Sunday:
However, it was a day to forget for those who handed Bruno Fernandes (£12.1m) the armband, as the Portuguese blanked and picked up a booking which meant that he produced just one FPL point for his efforts.
At the back, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side conceded a single goal for the second week running, but that didn’t stop Luke Shaw (£5.5m) from collecting two bonus points, having created one big chance and successfully completed 37 of his 45 attempted passes.
LIVELY LIVRAMENTO
Southampton look to have captured a real gem in 18-year-old right-back Tino Livramento (£4.0m), who has now started both of the Saints opening matches and looked excellent in Gameweek 2.
One storming run in the first-half particularly stood out, as did his six interceptions.
Interestingly, Kyle Walker-Peters (£5.0m) replaced left-back Romain Perraud (£5.0m) on 82 minutes, with the former Chelsea man seeing out the full 90 ahead of next week’s visit to Newcastle United.
It’s also worth noting that Ralph Hasenhüttl switched from his usual 4-2-2-2 formation to a back three at half-time, as Jan Bednarek (£4.5m) replaced Theo Walcott (£6.0m). That meant Livramento took on a wing-back role, though his attacking instincts were often curtailed by Shaw and Pogba’s attacking movements.
The change of shape was something Hasenhüttl touched on in his post-match interview:
“It was an intense week to prepare for this game. It’s good that in the end we take something for the work we have done for this game. It’s always a risk to change the shape after a good first half and surprise the opponents and be in the end more stable.
“After the first 10 minutes we were struggling to find this shape because it’s not about being passive or deeper, we should still be on the jump but in a different way – it works quite well. That moment we conceded a goal but in the end after 70 minutes we had the bigger chances, we should normally win the game, but in the end that is how it should be.”
Adam Armstrong (£6.0m) also deserves a mention, as the summer signing linked up well with Adams and made some excellent runs. He perhaps should have done better with a brilliant chance deep into the second half, but his prospects look good ahead of meetings with the ropey defences of Newcastle United (a) and West Ham United (h).
Southampton XI: McCarthy, Livramento, Stephens, Salisu, Perraud (Walker-Peters 79), Walcott (Bednarek 45), Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo (Diallo 70), Adams, A Armstrong
Man Utd XI: de Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Fred (McTominay 76), Matic (Lingard 86), Greenwood, Fernandes, Pogba, Martial (Sancho 59)
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
- Goals: Dele Alli (£6.5m)
- Assists: none
- Bonus: Hugo Lloris x3 (£5.5m), Davinson Sanchez x2 (4.5m), Alli x1
ALLI BACK ON THE FPL RADAR?
Dele Alli (£6.5m) scored his first league goal in 17 months and Harry Kane (£12.4m) made his long-awaited return as Tottenham Hotspur beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Molineux.
For Alli, his winning goal suprisingly arrived from the penalty spot, having won it himself after being brought down by Jose Sa (£5.0m). With Kane arriving off the bench in the second-half, it’s debatable just how important this development actually is, but it’s certainly something worth monitoring in the coming weeks.
Aside from the penalty, Alli performed in a deeper role on the left of Spurs’ midfield three (see below), which did restrict him to just 11 final-third touches.
Above: Dele Alli’s touch heat map v Wolverhampton Wanderers
It’s also worth noting that his only goal attempt on the day arrived from the penalty spot, though Spurs were pinned back for large periods and had to settle for just 42% ball possession.
Elsewhere, Kane made his first appearance of the season as he replaced Son Heung-min (£10.0m) in the 72nd minute. The 28-year-old held the ball up well and could have doubled the visitors’ lead but for a good stop from Sa.
Son, who is owned by 24.2% of FPL managers, worryingly left the pre-match warm up prematurely, though he did come out for the first-half as expected.
Having been asked after the game how he was, Nuno Espirito Santo said:
“For now he’s alright. In the warm-up, he had a strange feeling but he was okay to play. I don’t know. Let’s assess him now. I didn’t realise (he was walking gingerly). I’m sorry.
Meanwhile, it is now back-to-back clean sheets for Spurs, with Hugo Lloris (£5.5m) collected maximum bonus on both occasions. The Frenchman has already made 10 saves this season, a total no other goalkeeper can beat.
Having dropped more points from winning positions than any other Premier League side in 2020/21, this season, Spurs have held their own to see out results in Gameweeks 1 and 2, which does suggest there could be value in their defence ahead of Watford (h) and Crystal Palace (a), perhaps via £4.5m options Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier.
WOLVES ATTACK THROUGH CHANNELS
Roared on by an enthusiastic crowd, Wolves were perhaps unlucky not to come away with a point.
The dangerous Adama Traore (£6.0m) wasted a succession of chances, as Bruno Lage’s side attacked mainly through the channels.
That meant Nelson Semedo (£5.0m) was heavily involved in the final third, and could be one to monitor ahead of their fixture swing in Gameweek 4.
During the opening two rounds, Wolves have registered an encouraging 42 shots – only Liverpool have attempted more. They also rank fourth for expected goals (xG) from open play, though it is worth mentioning that they have been behind in both matches for large periods, which invariably leads to more attempts as they have had to chase the game.
Wolves XI: Sa, Kilman, Coady, Saiss (Silva 84), Semedo, Neves, Moutinho (Dendoncker 72), Marcal, Trincao (Ait-Nouri 84), Traore, Jimenez
Spurs XI: Lloris, Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Alli, Moura (Lo Celso 67), Bergwijn (Winks 90+1), Son (Kane 72)
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM GAMEWEEK 2
2 years, 8 months agoHave you considered with all your big scores, you may have peaked to early? 😉