Martinez and Buendia to miss Gameweek 4 as injuries and Covid also hit Villa

We continue our Scout Notes of the weekend’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) matches with analysis of Aston Villa v Brentford.

For a briefer summary of Saturday’s action, check out our Scoreboard summary here.

ASTON VILLA 1-1 BRENTFORD

• Goals: Emiliano Buendia (£6.4m) | Ivan Toney (£6.4m)
• Assists: Danny Ings (£8.1m) | Pontus Jansson (£4.5m)
• Bonus: Buendia x3, Jansson x2, Toney x1

BUENDIA SCORES AS INGS BAGS AN ASSIST

Emiliano Buendia (£6.4m) scored his first goal for Aston Villa in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Brentford.

However, Dean Smith was forced into a late re-think ahead of the game, after it was revealed that John McGinn (£6.0m) and Jacob Ramsey (£4.5m) would miss out as they were following Covid protocols.

As if that was not enough, Tyrone Mings (£5.0m) was also ruled out with a rib injury and Ezri Konsa (£5.0m) picked up a knee problem during the game.

With so many absent, Villa struggled to create and had to turn to Ashley Young (£5.0m) in an unfamiliar central midfield role alongside Douglas Luiz (£4.5m) and youngster Carney Chukwuemeka (£4.5m).

The rejig also meant that Axel Tuanzebe (£4.5m) partnered Konsa at centre-half, while former Bees forward Ollie Watkins (£7.3m) also came on for his first minutes of the season.

Aston Villa’s average position map v Brentford in Gameweek 3, with Ashley Young (no. 18) deployed in a central midfield role

Danny Ings (£8.1m) bagged an assist to make it three attacking returns in three starts, though the fact he has managed to score two goals off of just four shots suggests that most FPL managers will be happy to move him on ahead of Gameweek 4, especially given Villa’s toughening schedule:

It’s also worth noting that Emiliano Martinez (£5.5m) and Buendia will both miss the Gameweek 4 clash with Chelsea as a result of their international commitments with Argentina.

The pair have agreed to make themselves available for the first two World Cup qualifying matches against Venezuela and Brazil, but will not take part in the third fixture against Bolivia, which means the duo will be available for the visit of Everton in Gameweek 5.

Mings has joined up with the England squad to assuage fears about his fitness but there have been no updates on Konsa as yet.

TONEY OFF THE MARK

Brentford continued their unbeaten start to the 2021/22 Premier League season at Villa Park, with Ivan Toney (£6.4m) netting the opener as he converted confidently from Pontus Jansson’s (£4.5m) flick-on.

“He’s shown in all three games he’s more than capable of playing in the Premier League with his link-up play, pressing and his ability to be in the right place with chances. Now he’s finally got his goal on the board, I expect to see even more from him. He’s a fantastic player.” – Thomas Frank on Ivan Toney

The Bees probably shaded it overall, and have adjusted well to life in the top tier, picking up a victory against Arsenal in their opening game and back-to-back draws away at Crystal Palace and now Villa.

David Raya (£4.5m), one of Thomas Frank’s key performers in the opening rounds, now sits joint-second in the goalkeeper standings on 17 points, having kept two clean sheets, produced two save points and a single bonus point.

“[I’m] happy with most of the performance. We started the game brilliant at a difficult place to play. We were brave, pressed high and scored and I felt we were really on top of the game. Then one miscommunication and it gave them the chance.

In the second half I felt we started better and then it was more even in the last part of the game. I felt if there should have been a narrow winner it should have been us.

I would like us to be even braver. My message before every game is to go for a win, play forward and attack. I just probably need to keep reinforcing it.” – Thomas Frank

VILLA XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa (Hause 89), Tuanzebe, Targett, Douglas Luiz, Chukwuemeka (Nakamba 63), Young (Watkins 79), Buendia, El Ghazi, Ings.

BRENTFORD XI: Raya, Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock, Canos, Norgaard, Janelt (Baptiste 89), Henry, Ghoddos (Wissa 66), Mbeumo (Jensen 80), Toney.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM GAMEWEEK 3

• Saturday summary in brief
• Sunday summary in brief
• Man City 5-0 Arsenal: Is ‘OOP’ Torres worth the risk?
• Aston Villa 1-1 Brentford: Martinez and Buendia to miss Gameweek 4
• Brighton 0-2 Everton: Injured Calvert-Lewin out of England squad
• Newcastle 2-2 Southampton: Wilson fitness latest as Livramento stars
• Norwich 1-2 Leicester
• West Ham 2-2 Crystal Palace
• Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Salah wider as TAA moves central
• Burnley 1-1 Leeds: Bamford on the FPL radar
• Spurs 1-0 Watford: £4.5m Sissoko catches the eye
• Wolves 0-1 Man Utd: Pogba’s FPL appeal dented by deeper role