Eriksen Covid latest as Maddison and Castagne haul

We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Leicester City v Brentford in our latest Scout Notes.

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MADDISON AND BARNES’ HOME COMFORTS

James Maddison (£6.8m) continued his impressive home form in Gameweek 30, with his fourth goal in his last seven appearances at the King Power Stadium.

During that time, the playmaker has also produced five assists and earnt nine bonus, averaging an impressive 8.57 points per start.

Handed a free role off the right on Sunday, where he would regularly drift infield and find pockets of space, the 25-year-old ended the match with three shots, four created chances and 40 opposition-half touches, more than any other team-mate.

Above: James Maddison’s touch heatmap v Brentford in Gameweek 30

Harvey Barnes (£6.6m), meanwhile, has also been a reliable performer at home, having registered either a goal or assist in each of his last seven outings.

Now, with King Power clashes against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Everton, Southampton and Norwich City still to come, both midfielders will surely get plenty of opportunities to add to those tallies during the run-in.

CASTAGNE RETURNS

Timothy Castagne (£5.3m) marked his first appearance of 2022 with a goal, clean sheet (he was withdrawn prior to Leicester conceding) and two bonus, in a solid all-round display.

The Belgian’s link-up play with Barnes down the Foxes’ left particularly stood out, with his overlapping runs posing a real threat to Brentford’s backline.

However, Castagne’s return does complicate matters in defence.

For example, he and James Justin (£4.9m) featured in the full-back positions today, which meant Ricardo Pereira (£5.2m) and Luke Thomas (£4.3m) had to settle for a place on the bench. The latter, prior to today, had completed 60 plus minutes in 12 of his team’s last 14 Premier League outings.

With Jonny Evans (£5.4m) also returning from long-term injury, plus Wesley Fofana (£4.3m) building up his fitness, pinpointing starters is going to be tricky. On the latter missing out after returning from injury in midweek, Rodgers said the turnaround in matches was “too tight” to risk.

As a result, the in-form Kasper Schmeichel (£4.8m) may emerge as the safest option for those looking to capitalise on Leicester’s decent run.

“It’s much better. It’s a really good squad to compete when they’re available, for a lot of the season they’ve not been. Great to get Castagne an hour, JJ (Justin) 90 mins, Evans coming in… it’s good, Wesley (Fofana) we’re looking after him as well. It will galvanise the group. They will give energy and freshness to the team.

Albrighton will hopefully be back after the international break, with Ndidi we’re waiting for a second opinion on whether he will play for the rest of the season, which would be a shame. Jamie (Vardy) is a week to a couple of weeks.” – Brendan Rodgers on players coming back

ERIKSEN LATEST

Christian Eriksen (£5.5m) was a surprise absentee for Brentford on Sunday after testing positive for Covid-19.

“His first negative test was today so it’s too early to get him in. He’ll be back in a few days.” – Thomas Frank on Christian Eriksen

The Danish Football Union has since revealed that Eriksen will not meet up with the rest of their squad on Monday, but is expected to join the camp later this week.

The Danes are set to play friendlies in the Netherlands on 26 March and at home against Serbia three days later.

In the two games Eriksen has started for the Bees prior to today, they had beaten Norwich City and Burnley. In those matches, the playmaker had racked up 138 touches, three shots and one assist, highlighting his influence in Frank’s 4-3-3 formation.

Team-mate Saman Ghoddos (£5.3m) joined Eriksen on the sidelines with Covid.

Ivan Toney (£6.7m), meanwhile, failed to continue his impressive scoring form against Leicester, but Bryan Mbeumo (£5.2m) had more joy, as he bagged his first attacking return since Gameweek 23 via an assist.

Leicester City XI: Schmeichel, Justin, Amartey, Soyuncu, Castagne (Evans 64), Mendy, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall (Soumare 79), Maddison, Barnes, Iheanacho (Daka 86)

Brentford XI: Raya, Ajer (Roerslev 66), Jansson, Pinnock, Henry (Fosu-Henry 74), Norgaard, Jensen, Janelt (Baptiste 56), Mbeumo, Wissa, Toney