We end our analysis of the Gameweek 33 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) action in our Scout Notes series.
Here, we focus on three Thursday night matches – Everton v Newcastle United, Southampton v Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United.
Any numbers you see in this article are taken from our Premium Members Area, where you can access Opta player and team data from every single Premier League fixture.
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WILSON ROTATION DENTS ISAK APPEAL
In a match of contrasting moods, Everton look in deep trouble as they try to prevent their first relegation since 1951. A spirited start turned into a 4-1 defeat against this jubilant Newcastle side now on the verge of returning to the Champions League.
One popular route for purchasing Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) continues to be the downgrade of Harry Kane (£11.5m) to Alexander Isak (£6.8m). Not only did the Spurs forward bag 11 points in his match – taking him to eight returns from seven matches – but the Swedish superstar is sharing game time with Callum Wilson (£6.9m).
It’s a luxurious position for Newcastle to be in, having two in-form forwards to pick from, not that it helps FPL managers at all. Wilson’s brace probably won’t stop Isak from starting at home to Southampton this weekend but Double Gameweek 36 could easily see Eddie Howe repeat the rotation of both tonight and Double Gameweek 29.
Adding to the frustration, Isak’s cameo produced a breathtaking solo run that seemed to assist Jacob Murphy’s (£4.1m) tap-in. However, it was ruled that his diverted pass was intended for Wilson and therefore he ended on one point.
JOY FOR RASHFORD AND FERNANDES
Seeing Bruno Fernandes (£9.5m) start for Man United felt superhuman, considering Monday’s photo of him in a protective boot. Subsequently ditched or benched by many owners, the Portuguese playmaker set up Marcus Rashford’s (£7.1m) goal and later hit the crossbar.
Recently back from his own injury, Rashford excelled as the forward at Spurs and infuriated the near-two million managers that recently sold him by assisting Jadon Sancho (£7.1m) before his own strike.
Double Gameweek 34 looks tricky on paper versus Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion but our Season Ticker rates Man United as having the second-best fixture run over these final weeks and a lot of late transfers will look to get at least one of this elite attacking pair.
STILL NO NEWCASTLE CLEAN SHEET
Ultimately, Man United threw away their 2-0 lead in the second half, denying a clean sheet for Luke Shaw (£5.1m) and David De Gea (£5.0m). As for Spurs, the main defensive positive was that this time they weren’t 5-0 down after 21 minutes, with new interim boss Ryan Mason returning them to a wing-back system that was rewarded by Pedro Porro’s (£4.8m) goal.
Meanwhile, once again, Newcastle somehow found a way to lose a secure-looking clean sheet. They’re still the season’s best defence for total number of goals conceded but they have just one successful shut-out from their last 12 matches.
A warning came late in the first half when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s (£7.9m) goal was deemed offside but owners of Kieran Trippier (£6.2m), Nick Pope (£5.4m), Sven Botman (£4.5m) and Fabian Schar (£5.1m) will be furious that, when coasting 3-0, they allowed Dwight McNeil’s (£5.1m) corner kick to somehow go straight past the goalkeeper.
Trippier’s FPL ownership is almost unanimous but his freakish streak of returning in 17 of this season’s first 20 matches has been followed by ten blanks from the latest 12. He was denied an assist when a corner led to Schar’s attempt being cleared off the line, before his Swiss teammate saw a beautiful long-range curler ruled out in the 90th minute. A bad night for the owners of both Schar and Isak.
BITS AND PIECES
Adding to the Isak problem is that anyone looking towards an alternative differential like Anthony Martial (£6.3m) will notice his minutes are also being managed. Named as a substitute tonight, he witnessed Rashford be excellent up front and it’s hard to have confidence that the Frenchman will start twice in either of Man United’s upcoming double gameweeks.
Let’s also mention the night’s third encounter, pitting south coast sides Southampton and Bournemouth against each other in a crucial basement battle. Cheap forward Dominic Solanke (£5.6m) had an earlier assist taken away for offside reasons but succeeded when setting up the game’s only goal.
It’s the Cherries’ fifth win from eight league matches and their third successive away success. They’ve reached 36 points and will be confident of securing survival at home to Leeds United on Sunday.
Making things even worse for Southampton is that captain James Ward-Prowse (£6.2m) was taken off at half-time because of illness.
GAMEWEEK 33 LINE-UPS
Everton XI: Pickford; Godfrey, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Iwobi, Doucoure, Gana (Garner 83′), Onana (Maupay 73′), McNeil; Calvert-Lewin (Simms 83′)
Newcastle United XI: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Targett (Burn 68′); Longstaff (Isak 74′), Guimaraes, Willock (Anderson 87′); Almiron (Murphy 68′), Wilson (Gordon 87′), Joelinton
Southampton XI: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Caleta-Car, Perraud (Maitland-Niles 36′); Elyounoussi (S Armstrong 61′), Ward-Prowse (Lyanco 46′), Lavia, Alcaraz; Walcott (Adams 61′), A Armstrong (Sulemana 76′)
Bournemouth XI: Neto; Kelly, Mepham, Senesi (Zabarnyi 68′), Vina; Lerma, Rothwell; Christie, Billing (Ouattara 90′), Tavernier (Smith 78′); Solanke (Moore 90′)
Tottenham Hotspur XI: Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Porro (Danjuma 77′), Hojbjerg, Skipp, Perisic (Davies 77′); Richarlison (Kulusevski 61′), Kane, Son (Tanganga 87′)
Manchester United XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka (Malacia 71′), Lindelof, Shaw, Dalot; Casemiro, Eriksen (Fred 61′); Antony (Weghorst 71′), Fernandes, Sancho (Martial 61′); Rashford
