We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Brentford v Brighton and Hove Albion in our Scout Notes summary.
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Ivan Toney (£7.3m) marked his 100th appearance for Brentford with a brace of goals against Brighton in Friday’s Gameweek 11 opener.
The 26-year-old, who is pushing for a place in England’s World Cup squad, is now on eight Premier League goals this season, only behind Erling Haaland (£12.2m, 15) and level with Harry Kane (£11.4m).
It’s no fluke, either: Toney has been presented with 11 big chances this term, two more than Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) and Kane, albeit having played one additional match.
Above: Toney ranks second among all players for big chances in 2022/23, with 11
His second against Brighton, a 64th-minute penalty he won himself, means he has remarkably scored all 20 spot-kicks he has taken for Brentford, including eight in the Premier League.
However, Toney did receive his fourth booking of the season late on, meaning he will now have to last until early-January without another caution if he is to avoid a one-match ban.
“I think he’s getting closer and closer [to being alongside world-class strikers], that’s for sure. I think you can see that his link-up play is so good, he can read the game very well. His technical ability to either flick or hold or set the ball is very good.
I always say that if you want to create a top scorer then they need to be technically very good so the way he can connect with the ball, left-foot, right-foot, the free-kick against Leeds, the chip, he’s so good technically. He’s just got that character about him as well.
He’s one of the big leaders without a doubt. I have four captains and Ivan is a big driver also on the pitch, big demands to himself and his teammates but in that perfect balance where he’s very competitive but with a big smile. Of course a lot of banter and joking but caring about his teammates.” – Thomas Frank on Ivan Toney
Brentford’s secondary hero behind Toney was undoubtedly David Raya (£4.5m), who made fine saves to deny Danny Welbeck (£6.5m), Joel Veltman (£4.6m) and Solly March (£5.0m), resulting in his first double-figure haul of the campaign.
The Spanish shot-stopper is now up to 39 saves for the season, at least five more than any other FPL ‘keeper.
Above: Raya ranks first among all goalkeepers for saves and save points in 2022/23, with 39 and 11 respectively
The breakthrough for Thomas Frank’s side came after a period of control for Brighton, with Welbeck – who is still searching for his first league goal of 2022/23 – particularly wasteful.
They actually ended the night with more shots (21/7), possession (72%) and xG (1.79/1.56) than Brentford, but were made to pay for some poor finishing, a familiar theme for the The Seagulls in recent times
Roberto De Zerbi named the same starting XI for the third match in a row but showed the same kind of tactical flexibility as his predecessor by setting up in a back four formation, rather than the 3-4-2-1 he had used against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
A half-time switch saw Kaoru Mitoma (£4.9m) introduced for Pervis Estupinan (£4.5m), with the Japanese international lining up on the right-wing, which in turn, saw Solly March (£5.0m) shift to left-back.
Elsewhere, Leandro Trossard (£6.8m) and Pascal Gross (£5.9m), owned by 16.2% and 19.6% of FPL managers respectively, both underwhelmed and were withdrawn after 68 minutes.
Tonight’s loss means De Zerbi is still waiting for his first win at Brighton, with Nottingham Forest up next at the Amex on Tuesday.
“I thought we played a good game but if you want to win you have to score. It is difficult to explain the result and for a coach it’s difficult for me to talk about playing a good game when we lost 2-0. We had a lot of potential chances and [more than] 20 shots on the goal but we didn’t score. The goalkeeper for Brentford was fantastic.
Maybe that is our problem because against Tottenham we had a lot of shots but didn’t score, we couldn’t find the last pass or final cross when we needed it. The second goal was important but even then I felt that if we could score one goal it would open the game up.
We are not happy of course because we lost but on Sunday we start preparing for another game on Tuesday against Nottingham [Forest]. We will see the condition of the players and some may be tired but there aren’t any other problems.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Brentford XI: Raya; Ajer, Pinnock, Mee, Henry (Ghoddos 87); Janelt, Onyeka (Baptiste 71), Jensen (Dasilva 80); Mbeumo (Canos 80), Wissa (Roerslev 71), Toney
Brighton and Hove Albion XI: Sanchez; Veltman, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan (Mitoma 45); March, Mac Allister, Caicedo, Trossard (Undav 68); Gross (Lallana 68), Welbeck
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