We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Saturday’s Double Gameweek 26 fixtures.
The graphics below are taken from LiveFPL, Ragabolly’s excellent and ever-expanding website, and our own Premium Members Area.
GOALS, ASSISTS AND BONUS
INJURIES AND BANS
Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.9m) was a surprise omission from the Newcastle teamsheet on Saturday lunchtime but the issue doesn’t appear to be too serious, for anyone eyeing up the Frenchman for Double Gameweeks 28 and 29.
“He got a kick on his calf last week and it was too sore to play today – it was a late call, we hoped he might make the game but he didn’t.” – Eddie Howe
Teammate Ryan Fraser (£5.3m) limped out of the 1-1 draw late in the game, meanwhile.
“I don’t know [if he’s injured] at this moment in time. He said as he was coming off his hamstring was a bit sore but we’ll see. “There could be a little bit of fatigue or cramp in there.” – Eddie Howe on Ryan Fraser
West Ham were also without a couple of first-teamers, Vladimir Coufal (£4.8m) and Manuel Lanzini (£5.8m), who were presumably the anonymous twosome who were flagged as doubts by David Moyes in his pre-match press conference.
“Manuel Lanzini got a knock in training and Vladimir Coufal has an issue with his hernia.” – David Moyes
Already without the sidelined Diogo Jota (£8.4m), Liverpool lost their other main centre-forward option to injury ahead of Saturday’s match against Norwich. Roberto Firmino (£8.7m) was absent with a “muscle problem” and Jurgen Klopp not only provided an update on the Brazilian but also some fairly positive comments on Jota.
“With Diogo, it looks a little bit better than we first thought.
“With Bobby, we didn’t even know that he had something until he felt it only after the game [in midweek]. We all thought it is a little thing, but is it’s a muscle injury and we have to see how long it will take.” – Jurgen Klopp
James Tarkowski (£4.9m) and Ashley Westwood (£5.3m) both missed Burnley’s match against Brighton after testing positive for Covid-19, while the Seagulls were also without a centre-half due to Adam Webster‘s (£4.4m) groin issue – although Graham Potter hopes he’ll be back for Gameweek 27.
“We will have to wait and see on the testing schedule and the protocols [to see] how quickly they recover.” – Sean Dyche on his two absentees
Dyche later added that Maxwel Cornet (£5.9m) and Wout Weghorst (£6.5m) were fine after picking up knocks.
“The second half was like there was a knife in it with every step I did! It will come alright. We have some days until Wednesday, it’s going to be a big recovery and then we will be there.” – Wout Weghorst on the knock he took to his knee
Also on the coronavirus front, Southampton lost Romain Perraud (£4.8m) – who hadn’t been seen in training to midweek – to the illness ahead of their clash with Everton.
“It’s a pity that Romain tested positive (for COVID), so he’s out today. But the good thing is we have more options in this position now. Kyle (Walker-Peters) on the left and Tino on the right is something we’ve played this season so far.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl
Joel Ward (£4.5m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.3m) and Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.6m) were all absent from the Crystal Palace v Chelsea match, while Vicente Guaita (£4.6m) had to be brought off at the interval with a knee problem.
“We had some issues yesterday in training that meant Azpi and Callum went out from training” – Thomas Tuchel
“He felt something behind his knee and decided to stop. He couldn’t play.” – Patrick Vieira on Vicente Guaita
Juraj Kucka (£5.5m) and João Pedro (£5.4m) both missed out on Watford’s clash with Aston Villa with minor knocks, while Emmanuel Dennis (£6.1m) and Samir (£4.5m) walked gingerly off late on; we’ve yet to hear anything more about possible issues there.
Mathias Jensen (£4.9m) was substituted in the first half of Brentford’s clash with Arsenal with a knee problem, meanwhile.
In the evening kick-off, Sergio Reguilon (£5.3m) confirmed via social media that his absence from the Spurs squad was due to a positive Covid test. Fellow wing-back Emerson Royal (£4.8m) was forced off late in the game but his issue didn’t look too serious.
FPL TALKING POINTS
WHY WAS ALEXANDER-ARNOLD BENCHED?
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) wasn’t included in the above round-up, happily because his omission from the Liverpool matchday squad against Norwich was not injury-related.
Klopp later confirmed that the right-back was merely “rested” after four 90-minute run-outs in quick succession, so the England international should return to the fold for the Reds’ second Gameweek 26 encounter against Leeds.
Andrew Robertson (£7.2m) was similarly preserved against the Canaries as an unused substitute but Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) got the full game, scoring and claiming maximum bonus to get his Triple Captainers (there were over one million managers who did this in Gameweek 26) off to a strong start.
The Egyptian is top among all players for both shots and chances created in Gameweek 26 so far.
COME AND GET ME, PEP
Harry Kane (£12.2m) delivered arguably his best performance of the season in Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-2 win at the Etihad, and there’ll no doubt be a cynical argument to suggest this was no coincidence. Kane was a City target in the summer, with the player apparently keen on the move, and this was a reminder to his would-be future employers of his talents. From dropping deep to spray the ball around or set counter-attacks in motion to poaching in and around the six-yard box, this was vintage Kane.
There could have been other/further attacking returns outside of his brace, with one goal chalked off for offside in the build-up and another big chance going begging from six yards.
If you’re on your Free Hit or otherwise in Gameweek 27, Kane will be very much in the captaincy conversation based on not just this display but his consistently excellent underlying numbers: he has had more shots than any other Premier League player since Antonio Conte took charge.
Spurs were excellent from back to front, with full debutant Dejan Kulusevski (£6.0m), who played just off the front two, joining Kane and Son Heung-min in banking a double-digit haul. He’s one to add to the FPL watchlist but the rotation risk is probably too off-putting at present.
ZIYECH SCORES AGAIN
Chelsea briefly reappeared on the Fantasy radar on Saturday when grinding out a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace but they’ll swiftly disappear from our short-term thoughts as they blank in Gameweek 27.
It’s from Gameweek 28 when they really come back into the thinking, with a very favourable run of games to take them through to the end of the season plus the prospect of up to three more Double Gameweeks to come.
Hakim Ziyech (£7.3m) is a name to monitor, as he’s now scored three goals in as many league matches following his winner at Selhurst Park.
It’s not just the competition for places that makes him a risk but Thomas Tuchel’s formation tinkering, with this quote from the head coach last week summing up just how important a right-wing role is to the Moroccan’s FPL appeal.
“We switched systems lately. If we play in a back four, a 4-1-4-1, with a right winger position – this suits Hakim (Ziyech) very best.
“This position was not available from the start in the [Club World Cup] final so we took the tactical decision to play with the back three so did not leave us with the same position for Hakim so he came from the bench.” – Thomas Tuchel
The imminent recovery of Reece James (£6.2m) might actually be to Ziyech’s detriment, as the England international was so paramount to Chelsea’s attacking play in a wing-back system before injury stopped play.
A GOOD DAY FOR THE ‘SOMETHING TO PLAY FOR’ BRIGADE
One downside to playing a late Wildcard or Bench Boost is that we’re never quite so sure which teams will actually have ‘something to play for’ by the time we get to Gameweek 35 or 36.
Whether there’s any weight behind the ‘on the beach’ theory is another question but there’s little doubt that, should a Premier League manager have cups to play for at home and/or abroad and be presented with some glorified late-season dead rubbers in the league, we may see the sort of rotation that Pep Guardiola subjected us to in the final quarter of 2020/21.
The good news for us FPL managers, then, is that City’s defeat to Spurs on Saturday reignited the title race, while points for Watford, Burnley and Newcastle brought some more lower-league pretenders into the relegation dogfight. The race for fourth-place also looks like going deep into the season, with victories for the two north London clubs on Saturday.
WEGHORST: THE REAL DEAL?
Bundesliga journalist Matt Pearson said that Wout Weghorst (£6.5m) seemed lie a “pretty big upgrade on Chris Wood” upon the Dutchman’s move to England, and the early signs are that he’s right.
A real physical nuisance and armed with a fine goalscoring record, Weghorst exhibited both sides of his game in Burnley’s surprisingly straightforward 3-0 win over Brighton.
Rifling the Clarets into an early lead, he used his bustling hold-up play to great effect to tee up Josh Brownhill (£4.3m) for Burnley’s second.
With Maxwel Cornet (£5.9m) again below his best, this time in a number 10 role, Weghorst remians the stand-out Burnley attacker for their Double Gameweek 27.
“I’d be surprised if there’s not more (goals) to come. The way he plays, his quality, he brings others into play, he’s got a real team ethic and he has quality, there’s no two ways about that.” – Sean Dyche on Wout Weghorst
IN-FORM AND OUT-OF-FORM TEAMS
Emmanuel Dennis (£6.1m) returned to goalscoring ways in Watford’s win over Aston Villa but it’s the performances at the back that have really caught the eye under Roy Hodgson. Without a clean sheet all season until the change of manager, the Hornets have banked two shut-outs in their last four games and had come close to stopping West Ham from scoring in Gameweek 24.
Only two clubs have allowed fewer shots on target than Watford over their last four fixtures, while they also have the joint-fifth best record for fewest ‘big chances’ conceded in that time.
Aston Villa and the likes of Philippe Coutinho (£7.3m) barely got a sniff, failing to score for the second successive week against a relegation-threatened side and again incurring the wrath of their manager; a worrying sign for FPL bosses who went big on the Villans ahead of their upcoming run of games.
There are no such clouds hanging over Southampton right now, with their latest win against Frank Lampard’s Jekyll-and-Hyde Toffees meaning that they sit sixth in the Premier League form table over their last eight matches. Only two clubs have scored more than their 16 goals in that time.
Top of our Season Ticker over the next five Gameweeks, the Saints look ripe for investment. James Ward-Prowse (£6.4m) couldn’t add to his recent flurry of returns but created three big chances against Everton, while the in-form defender Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.8m) had four shots to underscore his own recent upturn in goal threat. Perraud’s unavailability was opportune for Tino Livramento (£4.3m), who bagged an assist, maximum bonus and a clean sheet and could have had a goal himself.
Newcastle, now unbeaten in their last six, were well worth a point against West Ham; they now haven’t conceded more than one goal in a game in any of those half-dozen matches, so we can perhaps stop thinking of them as whipping boys as we did before.
SAKA’S SHOTS
Bukayo Saka (£6.5m) had only scored eight league goals in his entire career at Arsenal heading into Gameweek 18 but has added another five strikes since, including the Gunners’ second goal against Brentford on Saturday.
His total of six shots on Saturday was the second-best of Gameweek 26 so far (see above) but it’s the mere continuation of some impressive medium-term numbers: he’s behind only Salah and Kane for goal attempts over his last six matches.
