We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Wednesday’s four Gameweek 33 fixtures in our Scout Notes summary.
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GOALS, ASSISTS AND BONUS
INJURIES AND BANS
Antonio Rudiger (£6.2m) was a surprise omission from the Chelsea teamsheet on Wednesday night, with a minor groin injury putting paid to his involvement.
His comments before the match sounded positive:
“It is groin pain and a little, minor injury. It is a matter of days, I hope, and the doctors told me that today is unfortunately too soon, but he will be close for the West Ham game.” – Thomas Tuchel on Antonio Rudiger
However, when speaking after full-time, Tuchel was less optimistic:
“Not good. I don’t think he will play against West Ham.” – Thomas Tuchel on Antonio Rudiger
Andreas Christensen (£4.6m) also came off during that 4-2 defeat to Arsenal, who had Alexandre Lacazette (£8.4m) back involved in the matchday squad after his Covid-enforced absence on Saturday.
“He said he cannot continue, so I think he had some problems. I don’t take a player out because he makes one mistake.” – Thomas Tuchel on Andreas Christensen
There were centre-half injuries to report from the Etihad, too, with both John Stones (£5.2m) and Nathan Ake (£4.7m) having to be replaced in the 3-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
“He felt a little bit tight. I didn’t speak to the doctor, I will speak to him in the morning. Even for the doctors, he needs to rest a little bit to know exactly the feeling. John went out running and playing. That is a good sign.
“He did not make an action and fall down to the grass. He was playing but felt tight. We did not want to take a risk. We will see in the next days.” – Pep Guardiola on John Stones
The Seagulls were without Leandro Trossard (£5.8m), who came down with a stomach bug ahead of kick-off.
Amid some of the bombshell injury news above, there was the altogether more predictable revelation that Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m) had picked up a fresh muscle injury and would be out for “10 days to two weeks”.
FPL TALKING POINTS
KEY RESTS
With Wildcards and Free Hits being deployed in Gameweek 34, FPL managers would have had a keen eye on midweek minutes to help determine who are the likelier starters this weekend and beyond.
Kai Havertz (£7.9m) and Thiago Silva (£5.6m) were only substitutes at Stamford Bridge ahead of Chelsea’s Double Gameweek 34, while Raheem Sterling (£10.5m), Jack Grealish (£7.5m) and Gabriel Jesus (£8.4m) were named on the bench at the Etihad for the visit of Brighton.
A benching in one match doesn’t always mean a start in the next fixture in the minds and worlds of Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola, but with fixtures aplenty to follow in the run-in (including a Champions League tie against Real Madrid on Tuesday, for City), Sterling, Havertz et al could only have done their Gameweek 34 prospects more good than harm by being restricted to cameos on Wednesday.
Reece James (£6.3m) was again initially stationed at centre-half, meanwhile, something that Thomas Tuchel said recently would help him string together more starts after a recent return from injury.
SAKA ON PENS?
Bukayo Saka (£6.8m) ended Gameweek 33 with a double-digit score – but only just.
The winger was minutes away from blanking for the fourth straight match but dusted himself down to convert the stoppage-time spot-kick he himself had won, with previous takers Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe (£6.9m) off the field.
Those two players above may not be guaranteed sustained game-time in the run-in so it’s worth pondering just who is on penalties for the Gunners going forward, and Arteta thought it was Gabriel Martinelli (£5.3m) who was about the step up from 12 yards at Stamford Bridge.
“I thought that Gabi was going to take it and when I saw that Bukayo took it, honestly, my first thing that I thought was back in the summer and what happened [at Euro 2020]. But again, I said to you guys, when that happens to Bukayo, that happened for a reason and he learned so much and he matured so much, that’s why he’s having the season that he’s had. For him to have to the courage to say ‘I’m going to take it again’ because I’m sure it was in the back of his.” – Mikel Arteta
Saka, incidentally, started the match at right wing-back as his manager moved to a 3-4-2-1, but still posed a threat throughout.
Above: The average position of Arsenal players v Chelsea
EDDIE > THE EAGLE?
Patrick Vieira sure knows how to bust a Palace forward bandwagon and he temporarily derailed another by naming Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.3m) on the bench in the Eagles’ defeat at Newcastle on Wednesday.
With mid-table obscurity all but assured, it remains to be seen if Vieira decides to take an extended look at alternative forward-line options like Odsonne Edouard (£6.1m) in the run-in, having recently pledged to do likewise with Eberechi Eze (£5.9m).
Perhaps happily for Mateta’s chances of regaining his start for Gameweek 34, Palace and Edouard turned in a very poor showing on Tyneside and the benched forward immediately made an impact upon his introduction.
Now tussling for budget forward duties alongside Mateta is Eddie Nketiah (£5.4m), who was handed a second successive start and rewarded Mikel Arteta’s faith with a brace of poacher’s goals.
Nketiah, of course, likely wouldn’t have started in Gameweek 33 had Lacazette not fallen ill but the Frenchman was coming under fire for his shortage of goals and it’ll be interesting to see what Arteta does this weekend and beyond given the younger forward’s contribution in west London.
The Arsenal boss was certainly effusive in his praise after full-time.
“If there is one player that I have been unfair with, I think it is him. He has given me every right to do something different, so if Eddie hasn’t played more, it’s my fault and because as a manager I have missed something or I haven’t had the courage to play him more, and today he showed me again how wrong I was.” – Mikel Arteta on Eddie Nketiah
MORE FORWARD THINKING
Further up the price chain, there were more goals for Timo Werner (£8.6m) and Richarlison (£7.5m), both of whom have two more Double Gameweeks to come.
The profligate Brazilian had another afternoon of impressive stats-posting, having six shots and wasting two glorious opportunities before he scuffed home a late leveller.
Werner, meanwhile, was again stationed in a more central role for the Blues, registering more penalty box touches than anyone else on show in west London. His strike made it seven returns in four matches in league and cup, although those appearances – each one of them a start – have all arrived in the last 12 days and there is a modicum of concern about his Gameweek 34 game-time as a consequence.
LEICESTER MOTIVATION
The Leicester rotation roulette wheel was spun again on Wednesday, with Brendan Rodgers making seven changes and largely reinstating the side that were victorious in the Europa League last Thursday.
There were positive displays from James Maddison (£7.0m), who couldn’t score from five shots at Goodison Park, and the bargain FPL midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£4.4m), who impressed in the engine room but who dallied too long with a rare early chance.
Harvey Barnes (£6.6m) scored his fourth goal of the season, meanwhile.
Despite the reassuring words below, there’ll be week-to-week uncertainty over what sort of team Rodgers will put out during the run-in, particularly with a Europa League semi-final to be contested either side of Gameweek 35.
“It probably will be [too difficult to qualify for Europe through the league].
“But if we can finish in the top half of the table and get to the final of the (European) competition we’re in, that’ll be a really good season for us, in terms of the position we’ve been in with injuries. We look to the next game and we’ll see where we finish.
“No, no, [Europe is not now the sole focus for the rest of the season]. We’ve got a game at the weekend. We have to respect the supporters travelling all over the country so every game we play, we’ll give everything until the last game of the season.” – Brendan Rodgers
