Gameweek 17 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) came to a conclusion on Wednesday evening, as the reigning champions saw off Leeds United.

We’ve got the key quotes, notes and stats from Elland Road in our final Scout Notes of this round of festive fixtures.

The numbers you see in this article are from our Premium Members Area, where you can access Opta player and team data for every single Premier League match.

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HAALAND: TWENTY’S NOT PLENTY

Erling Haaland (£12.2m) delivered his first double-digit haul on the road since Gameweek 1 after a brace in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Leeds.

There could and should have been other/further returns for the Norwegian, too, with a couple of one-on-one opportunities spurned and eight shots – the most by any player in Gameweek 17 – registered in total.

Haaland now has 20 Premier League goals to his name and we’re not even halfway through the campaign. Unsurprisingly, he’s reached the 20-mark quicker than any player in Premier League history.

“Being at home, I was a bit mad that I wasn’t playing at the World Cup.

“Yeah I kind of recharged my batteries. Watching other players score goals triggers me and irritates me, I’m hungrier than ever.

“I have got a number [goals target], but I cannot say. No comment!” – Erling Haaland

Pep Guardiola ominously said after the match that his free-scoring forward isn’t quite at the levels he displayed in the autumn, prior to his injury against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

“Of course we are delighted but that little pace he had at the beginning of the season, now he maybe struggle a little bit, but it’s a question of time.

“I am still more than satisfied but I had the feeling in the first part of the season he was sharper. When I see him moving and everything, he can do a little bit better.

“He was a long time injured. He was a long time ago, since Dortmund, playing Brentford but not perfectly. Then one-month holiday and after we restart he was not fit.

“When we started to train in Abu Dhabi he could not train one single day, maybe the last one. To move his huge body is not easy for him but as much as he can play, minutes, minutes, will be better.

“He could not train and then the game against Girona, he played 45/50 minutes and after he could not move his body. He was exhausted. After Liverpool was good for 70/75 minutes, he made an exceptional goal because always he is there.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland

65-HOUR TURNAROUNDS

City and Leeds have, by some distance, the shortest turnarounds of any club between Gameweeks 17 and 18.

Just 65 hours separate full-time at Elland Road on Wednesday from kick-off in the two sides’ New Year’s Eve fixtures, with Leeds facing the unenviable task of containing another top-four club and City hosting Everton.

The first question that springs to mind is what on earth will Guardiola do with his starting XI? Phil Foden (£8.3m), Joao Cancelo (£7.4m), Kyle Walker (£4.8m) and Bernardo Silva (£6.9m) were all named on the bench against Leeds, with Foden and Cancelo emerging as second-half substitutes for one-point cameos. All four players reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup with their respective nations and were among the latest returnees from Qatar, which largely explains their slow reintegration into the first-team picture at City.

Is another one or two days of training enough for them to be deemed ready for a start? Could Rico Lewis (£3.9m) feature in his third game in a row at right-back? Might even Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne (£12.6m) be at risk after 90-minute outings in West Yorkshire?

They’re all questions to be chewed on over the next few days and, unsurprisingly, there were no real giveaway clues in Guardiola’s post-match presser, with most of the talk centred around Haaland’s heroics in front of goal.

The City boss did say that he’d like Walker and Cancelo to be available as “soon as possible”, adding that Grealish and Riyad Mahrez (£7.5m) were partly selected on the flanks (ahead of Foden) to control the tempo of what could otherwise be a basketball match against a high-tempo Leeds side – a tactic he’s used before in such games. Everton at home isn’t one of them.

“Almost impossible to play better than him. He’s 18 years old, there will be mistakes. But I had the feeling he has to play again. We need Kyle and Joao as soon as possible. In that moment I see he’s in a perfect position to play.” – Pep Guardiola on RIco Lewis

“Grealish gave two brilliant assists. When we can rest the ball with Jack and Riyad [Mahrez], it gives us the right tempo.” – Pep Guardiola

“He was good. In the first half, he missed chances and has to improve on that. It’s just mentality and to be aggressive to score.

“He showed the quality to be generous. He’s incredibly loved by everyone. He’s so humble and they were perfect assists for Erling.” – Pep Guardiola on Jack Grealish

DE BRUYNE DISAPPOINTMENT

De Bruyne v Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) was a call that many FPL managers had to make with their unlimited transfers and it’s an early advantage to the Salah-backers after the Belgian blanked for only the second time in an away league game this season.

There were some close calls, with one early effort in prime De Bruyne territory curling narrowly wide and four chances created for his team-mates.

There’ll no doubt be some FPL managers wanting to make the sideways switch between the two premium picks after Gameweek 17 but over the course of the campaign, De Bruyne and Salah are almost identical not only for FPL points (92 v 94) but expected goal involvement (xGI, 10.19 v 10.25) too.

Salah’s total is of course primarily made up of expected goals (xG), while De Bruyne’s tally is chiefly expected assists (xA). This was the ninth straight match in which the Belgium international has failed to register a single ‘big chance’, although it could be argued that he’s more effective when whipping shots in from 20+ yards out anyway.

There’ll no doubt be more agony on either side to come: Salah arguably has the better fixtures in the next two Gameweeks and perhaps the edge when it comes to minutes (Liverpool simply don’t have much to rotate with up top), while De Bruyne has up to two Double Gameweeks to come between now and mid-February.

LEEDS ATTACK ONE TO BE WARY OF

The extra 48 hours of recovery for Newcastle ahead of their Gameweek 18 clash with Leeds will surely stand the Magpies in good stead, particularly after Leeds did a lot of off-the-ball running and harrying against City.

But be wary of the Leeds attack.

Jesse Marsch’s side have scored nine goals in four meetings with Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and City this season, with Arsenal the only ‘big-six’ side to emerge with a clean sheet – and even they were lucky to do so after the Whites missed a penalty and racked up 16 shots.

Eighth for minutes per expected goal (xG) in 2022/23 and 19th for minutes per expected goal conceded (xGC), it’s easy to see where Leeds’ problems lie.

The deployment of a new 4-3-3 system didn’t really seem to provide any more protection to the back four on Wednesday, although the unavailability of the banned Tyler Adams (£4.9m) was a contributing factor.

FPL’s cheapest forward, the versatile Sam Greenwood (£4.2m), is one possible beneficiary if the new formation is here to stay, as he was part of that three-man central midfield. On set plays, he assisted Pascal Struijk (£4.5m) for the hosts’ consolation strike.