FPL review: Mitrovic a Gameweek 25 injury doubt

We assess the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) fall-out from Brighton and Hove Albion v Fulham and Brentford v Crystal Palace in our next set of Gameweek 24 Scout Notes.

The numbers and graphics 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.

• READ MORE: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + statistics
• READ MORE: Darwin injury latest, Liverpool’s Gameweek 25 audition
• READ MORE: Arteta on Saka’s fitness and Martinelli’s benching

MITROVIC INJURY LATEST

Owners of Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) may have partly kept the Serbian striker in their sides because Fulham are in action in Blank Gameweek 25 but there are no guarantees we’ll see him next weekend.

Mitrovic was absent from the Fulham squad that defeated Brighton 1-0 at the Amex, with Marco Silva saying that his sidelined forward’s injury was “minor” in nature but adding that he was a doubt for the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“It looks really a minor injury. I don’t know if he will be able to play the next game or not but it will not be weeks or something like that.

“Right now, the statement I have from the medical staff is that it’s a minor injury. For this afternoon it was impossible for him to play, I don’t know if it will be for the next one but soon we are going to have him back.” – Marco Silva on Aleksandar Mitrovic

Silva had made similar comments before kick-off.

The Cottagers were second-best without Mitrovic (not that his presence would have helped that much) but did keep their third clean sheet in a row and their fifth shut-out since the restart. As we discussed last week, Fulham are vastly overachieving on the goals conceded front – and they owe much of that to Bernd Leno (£4.5m), who banked a double-digit haul at the Amex after more heroics. He made seven stops against Albion and now trails only David Raya (£4.7m) for saves in FPL this season.

A PAIR OF BLANKERS

It was a frustrating afternoon for owners of Brighton and Brentford assets, who would have been hoping for one final hurrah before they signed off for Blank Gameweek 25.

The Seagulls, as has become customary, utterly dominated proceedings against Fulham, registering 21 shots to their visitors’ five but succumbed to a late Manor Solomon (£4.9m) goal.

A quiet Kaoru Mitoma (£5.4m) failed to have a shot for the first time since he became a regular starter but Solly March (£5.1m) was again in the thick of things, involved in four of the five big chances that Albion had.

Alexis Mac Allister (£5.4m) was once more stationed further forward in a number 10 role and, as was the case last week, posed much more of a goal threat. One of his four shots was a great opportunity from close range, carved out by the busy March.

Budget FPL forward Evan Ferguson (£4.6m) was also recalled to the line-up and was another Albion asset to see a succession of chances go begging.

As for in-form Brentford, this was a bit of an off-day by their high standards but Vitaly Janelt‘s (£5.5m) late header extended the Bees’ unbeaten league run to 11 games – that’s the longest sequence in the division following Newcastle’s defeat on Saturday night.

There’s definitely a school of thought that Brentford are better against the Premier League elite, having deservedly taken points off all of the ‘big-six’ sides but having sometimes struggled against teams who are less attacking. Ten of Ivan Toney‘s (£7.7m) 17 attacking returns this season have come against sides in the top half.

“The performance overall, we could have done better. I’m disappointed with the performance, but this is the Premier League. We still gave very little away.

“We gave the goal away, and the chance after, which is not much in a Premier League game. If you can’t win, don’t lose. We are 11 games unbeaten.” – Thomas Frank

ESTUPINAN INJURY UPDATE

Pervis Estupinan (£4.7m) – FPL’s form defender based on points over the last 30 days – managed to bank a clean sheet before Brighton conceded late on, being replaced just after the hour mark.

It was indeed an enforced change but Roberto De Zerbi wasn’t concerned after full-time.

“No, no problem. It was a tight [hamstring]. Not a big problem.” – Roberto Zerbi on Pervis Estupinan’s withdrawal

BRIGHTON + PALACE’S DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 27 LATEST

Two of the sides featured in this article play each other in Gameweek 27, creating a ‘double’ for both clubs.

A rail strike put paid to the initial staging of Brighton v Crystal Palace back in September and, wouldn’t you just know it, there’s another strike planned for the rescheduled date (Thursday 16 March).

According to the Athletic, the Seagulls have requested that the M23 derby in Gameweek 27 is now brought forward 24 hours in order to avoid the chaos that union action will bring.

A decision from the Premier League is expected early next week, so it’s a situation to monitor.