Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers are the focus of our latest Scout Notes piece.
The numbers you see in this article are taken from our Premium Members Area, where you can access Opta player and team data for every single Premier League fixture.
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RUTHLESS KANE
Harry Kane (£11.6m) recorded his biggest FPL haul of the season so far at Selhurst Park, as Spurs prepared for their potential Double Gameweek 20 with an impressive second-half showing. In a resounding 4-0 win, the England captain racked up 16 points, courtesy of two goals, an assist and maximum bonus. As a result, Kane is now just 15 points behind Erling Haaland (£12.2m) at the top of the overall player standings. However, he has made three additional appearances, with his points per match average (7.1) someway behind that of the Norwegian (9.5).
Still, nearly 50% of the top 10k managers own Kane and he could play twice in Gameweek 20. However, that double-header will only happen if neither Spurs nor Manchester City are involved in FA Cup third-round replays. He’ll also need to avoid a caution in the north London derby if he wants to take part in both games, as he currently sits on four yellow cards, with a fifth resulting in a one-match ban.
Kane was joined by Matt Doherty (£4.6m) and Ivan Perisic (£5.5m) in securing double-figure hauls at Palace, with the wing-backs each supplying attacking returns in addition to clean sheets. Of the pair, it was Doherty who stood out most, as he netted his first goal of the season. It’s also worth noting that no player from either side could beat him for shots inside the box (four) in Gameweek 19.
Spurs, meanwhile, kept their first clean sheet since Gameweek 11, having conceded two or more goals in each of their previous seven outings. Given their upcoming schedule, it’s debatable just how much attention we should afford their wing-backs, given that three of their next four fixtures (see below) pit them against the division’s top two attacks. Even Fulham have scored in all but one of their 16 matches from Gameweek 3 onwards.
Elsewhere, with Dejan Kulusevski (£7.9m) still injured, Son Heung-min’s (£11.6m) return to the scoresheet was timely. Despite sharing the Golden Boot last season, this was only the second Premier League game that the South Korean has scored in this term. A fit and firing Sonny has the potential to shake up the FPL template and his goal will surely hand him a boost, but he did look off the pace at times for much of the game at Palace,
“It’s a really good performance, a solid performance. Finally, we didn’t concede a goal, scored four goals, important for our strikers, Harry Kane scored twice, and it was important for Sonny to score. For us, we’re talking about an important player and to keep his confidence high is very important. Matthew [Doherty] scored. He also scored in the three friendly games we played during the World Cup. He’s becoming a top scorer.” – Antonio Conte
Also, a quick word on Bryan Gil (£5.0m), who was involved in three of the four goals, with his pass for Kane’s second resulting in an assist.
“There were so many positives, especially, I’m happy for the young players. We are facing this period with important players injured and you know very well, to play at this level, you need all the players available. Despite this, tonight, we showed with Gil, he’s going to improve game by game.” – Antonio Conte
As for Palace, they are in a rut, having conceded seven goals in their two home matches since the World Cup. Now, they sit bottom of our Season Ticker in the next six Gameweeks, with all of their opponents currently inside the top 10.
BUDGET OPTIONS ON SHOW AT VILLA PARK
Danny Ings (£6.4m) came off the bench to equalise for Aston Villa on Wednesday after Daniel Podence (£5.3m) had put the visitors ahead with a fine early strike.
Leon Bailey (£4.5m), making his third successive start since the World Cup, should have won it late on, only to shoot wide with the goal at his mercy. He racked up an impressive four shots and created three chances in Gameweek 19, yet his starting spot may soon come under threat, with Ings now on six goals from just eight league starts/787 minutes in 2022/23.
“He was feeling (it). He had the responsibility to score. We were speaking about against Liverpool he had three very good chances to score and to win the match. And on Sunday (against Tottenham Hotspur) he worked a lot, defensively as well. But every player, offensively, they have to be brilliant when they’re scoring, like here for example with Dany Ings. But when he had the last chance to score, he finished the match crying because he’s feeling (it). And when he’s feeling, I think it’s good. I’m so happy with his commitment, his idea to try and help the team, playing as a striker, as a winger like the second half. He did really good work and only missed his last chance to really help us win it.” – Unai Emery on Leon Bailey
Aston Villa had been hugely impressive in their 2-0 win at Spurs on Sunday but this was a very different type of game, with many of their players struggling to impose themselves in a disappointing first 45 minutes. Improvement followed after the half-time introduction of Philippe Coutinho (£6.6m), although Lucas Digne (£4.6m) underwhelmed and was one of four players hooked inside 68 minutes.
As for Wolves, Julen Lopetegui named an unchanged starting XI but did introduce new striker Matheus Cunha (£5.5m) in the second half.
“Matheus Cunha needs to play more and maybe he was for 30 minutes and no more, but step by step he has to improve. Today I think that he started playing in a very key moment for the match, but he’s going to improve.” – Julen Lopetegui
READ MORE: FPL new signings: Who is Wolves forward Matheus Cunha?
Podence netted his second goal in three games since the restart but was forced off with an injury at half-time. Hugo Bueno (£3.9m), meanwhile, continues to impress at left-back, with another accomplished display from the youngster.
“We lost Daniel Podence in the half who is a very important player for us to have on the ball and in control of the situation. We don’t know how he’s going but he had problems in the first-half and he couldn’t continue in the second-half. This was a pity because we wanted to overcome Aston Villa from having the ball and of course Daniel Podence is a very important player for us in this kind of situation. So in the second-half, when we are more tired and when this kind of player is out, maybe without that, we would have had more points.” – Julen Lopetegui
