FPL Gameweek 10 round-up: Saturday review, injury news and the things we learned

Following the points bonanza of Gameweek 9, there were some more modest Fantasy Premier League (FPL) scores posted on Saturday.

Our usual, more detailed Scout Notes will follow for all of the day’s games but in the meantime, our resurrected Scoreboard series rounds up the key goings-on from the day’s Gameweek 10 fixtures.

The graphics below are taken from LiveFPL, Ragabolly’s excellent and ever-expanding website, and our own Premium Members Area.

GOALS, ASSISTS, PROJECTED BONUS

INJURIES AND BANS

Mason Mount (£7.6m) was transferred in by more FPL managers than any other player in the run-up to Gameweek 10 but he was a shock absentee from the Chelsea matchday squad on Saturday.

The Blues confirmed that Mount missed out through illness, with Thomas Tuchel so far not offering us more details on the issue.

Ben White (£4.4m) and Martin Odegaard (£5.5m) returned from illness and injury respectively for Arsenal’s win over Leicester City but Kieran Tierney (£4.9m) was again absent, with Mikel Arteta offering a fairly downbeat assessment of the left-back.

“He didn’t train with the team yesterday, he’s still not feeling good, he’s still in pain, and he is not comfortable when he’s running. He was struggling so we’re trying to help him as much as possible, we need him back and I don’t know when that will be.” – Mikel Arteta on Kieran Tierney

Liverpool lost Naby Keita (£5.0m) to a hamstring injury in the draw with Brighton, the same injury that saw Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) miss out on Brentford’s loss to Burnley. Bryan Mbeumo (£5.6m) recovered from a hamstring strain to make the matchday squad at Turf Moor but remained an unused substitute, while teammates Ethan Pinnock (£4.7m) and Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) made playing comebacks.

“He showed me the hamstring and how people told me, it’s hamstring. I cannot say more.” – Jurgen Klopp on Naby Keita

On the suspension front, Aymeric Laporte (£5.5m) was dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity and will now miss the Manchester derby in Gameweek 11.

GAMEWEEK 10 TAKEAWAYS

UNITED CHANGE SHAPE AND BETTER AT BOTH ENDS

After the misguided attempts to play Liverpool at their own pressing game last week led to a 5-0 humping, it always looked likelier that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would adopt a safety-first approach this week.

And so it transpired, with Solskjaer bringing in a third centre-half in the shape of Raphael Varane (£5.5m) alongside Victor Lindelof (£4.8m) and Harry Maguire (£5.4m).

The result was a much improved, more compact defensive display, although how much that owed to Spurs’ own attacking limitations – they have scored more league goals than just two other sides this season – is another question.

The Manchester derby follows next and City will not find it as easy to cut through the United backline as Jurgen Klopp’s troops, but will pose a darn sight more threat than a limp Spurs outfit who didn’t manage a single shot on target.

At the other end, Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.4m) benefitted from having a partner in the form of Edinson Cavani (£8.4m) alongside him, assisting the Uruguayan for the Red Devils’ second goal having scored a wonder-strike to break the deadlock.

Spurs, however, were abysmal and questions will be asked about their own Fantasy assets despite their forthcoming favourable run.

CORNET SCORES AGAIN

Maxwel Cornet (£6.0m) made it four goals in just 282 minutes of pitch-time with a superb strike in Burnley’s 3-1 win over Brentford. No FPL midfielder under £10.0m can better the Ivory Coast international – who was again stationed in a central role behind Chris Wood (£6.7m) – for goals scored in 2021/22, despite his shortage of first-team action.

Despite a paucity of clean sheets for Burnley, Matthew Lowton (£4.4m) moved up to third in the £4.5m-and-under defenders’ points table with his third and fourth attacking returns of the campaign.

ALL ABOARD THE PALACE TRAIN?

The headlines may say ‘Palace beat 10-man City’ but what shouldn’t be forgotten is that the Eagles were already 1-0 up by the time Laporte saw red, with Wilfried Zaha (£6.9m) and Conor Gallagher (£5.6m) putting in some convincing auditions ahead of their side’s favourable fixture run:

Gallagher is now the highest-scoring FPL midfielder under £10.0m, having bagged his sixth and seventh attacking return of the campaign in the win at the Etihad.

At the back, Patrick Vieira’s side didn’t allow their hosts one big chance and now have the division’s third-best expected goals conceded (xGC) total this season.

RAMSDALE A SAFE PAIR OF HANDS

Aaron Ramsdale (£4.6m) produced a series of excellent stops to help Arsenal to a 2-0 win at Leicester. His save percentage (85%) and points-per-match average (5.6) are second only to those of Edouard Mendy (£6.1m) among first-choice goalkeepers this season, although some consideration has to be given to the calibre of opponent since he made his debut in Gameweek 4.

FEAST OR FAMINE FOR JAMES

Reece James (£5.6m) is now Chelsea’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League this season following his brace at Newcastle. Ben Chilwell (£5.9m) brought home two bonus points for his owners but otherwise took a backseat to his opposite wing-back, who has plundered 52 points in three of his seven appearances this season.

His scores this season sum up the rollercoaster nature of owning him in FPL: 1, 18, 1, 1, 1, 13, 21.

James now averages 8.0 points per match in 2021/22 and is among five Chelsea assets who lead the way for points per game among defenders (the below table doesn’t reflect today’s bonus points):

SALAH THE MOST-CAPTAINED…. EVER

Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) was made skipper by over 4.6 million managers in Gameweek 10, making him the most-captained player in a single Gameweek in FPL history.

A solitary assist in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Brighton was slightly underwhelming but few other legitimate captaincy alternatives did too much better elsewhere.

Above: The most-captained players among the top 10,000 FPL managers

STAT WATCH – GAMEWEEK 10

James can’t be bettered for shots on target in Gameweek 10 so far and was among the top ten performers for goal attempts, penalty box touches and efforts in the opposition area on Saturday.

Youri Tielemans (£6.5m) created a joint-Gameweek-high five chances in the defeat to Arsenal, taking him to 12 key passes in the last four Gameweeks – a total beaten by only Bruno Fernandes (£11.7m) in that time.

Adam Armstrong (£5.9m), back in the Southampton starting XI, topped the day’s expected goal involvement (xGI) count. Despite his assist, however, his finishing continues to frustrate and he has now scored from just one of his 27 shots this season.