Two more Premier League matches get the Scout Notes treatment as we continue the Gameweek 1 post-mortem.
This time, it’s Newcastle United v Aston Villa and Bournemouth v West Ham United.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Arteta on why Gabriel was benched
- READ MORE: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
NEWCASTLE CARRY ON WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
Aston Villa were meant to be this season’s Newcastle United, going off many pre-season predictions. On Saturday’s evidence, the Magpies may still be the leading top-four pretenders.
Villa probably won’t be as bad as this again in 2023/24, while the acid test for Newcastle will be when European involvement starts in September. Potentially sobering tests against Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion come before then, too.
But the Magpies couldn’t have started the new campaign any better. While other top-half contenders are in transitional phases, Newcastle were instantly recognisable from last season: front-foot, aggressive and very, very fit.
Even the new signings have blended in seamlessly. All-action midfielder Sandro Tonali (£5.5m) is the dictionary definition of an Eddie Howe player, while Harvey Barnes (£6.5m) brings the end product that the otherwise beloved Allan Saint-Maximin was often lacking.
The Gameweek 2-4 fixture run (Liverpool’s defence aside) will be enough of a deterrent for many Fantasy managers to revive interest in Newcastle players – although it hasn’t stopped over 100,000 knee-jerkers from making two-goal Alexander Isak (£7.5m) the most-bought individual of the week.
Gameweek 5 onwards is a different story, however.
ISAK OVER WILSON
Isak getting the nod over Callum Wilson (£8.0m) wasn’t a huge shock, as it was something Howe regularly did last year when a) both players were fully fit and b) the Magpies were only playing once a week.
“I went with Alex today. Alex and Callum (Wilson) are two really top players and we saw Alex do well and then Callum come on and do well.
“That’s what we are going to need throughout a hard season – Wilson is a top player and he looked razor-sharp when he came on.
“The squad dynamic is more important than ever with the added time. We had a strong bench today and hopefully we can carry that through the season.” – Eddie Howe
Wilson doesn’t need much pitch-time to shine, however. He was instantly on the scoresheet against Villa and should have had another, seeing a big chance saved from point-blank range.
Barnes, too, emerged with a double-digit haul, despite only coming off the bench midway through the second half. Anthony Gordon (£5.5m), who started ahead of the former Leicester City winger, was also excellent.
Rotation risks will abound when the UEFA Champions League starts but as Howe alluded to above, the “added [injury] time” does give a slightly bigger window for substitutes to deliver attacking returns.
There was no clean sheet or assist for Kieran Trippier (£6.5m) but he once again topped the chances created table at St James’ Park. The bonus machine is second among all Premier League outfielders for baseline bonus points in Gameweek 1 so far.
Tonali didn’t eat into Trippier’s set plays and was mostly to be found scurrying about in central midfield. A bit like Bruno Guimaraes (£6.0m) discovered in 2021/22, however, playing as a ‘number eight’ does allow for a chance or two: he ghosted into the box for a brace of big chances against Villa, scoring one of them.
Above: Sandro Tonali’s touch heatmap v Aston Villa, from the Premium Members Area
VILLA’S HIGH LINE
Newcastle had joy against Aston Villa’s high line in pre-season and the lessons weren’t learned on Tyneside.
A serious-looking knee injury to Tyrone Mings (£4.5m) didn’t help matters, although the Villans were already 2-1 down by that point.
“We don’t know exactly about his injury, but it doesn’t look good. Tomorrow we will scan him. [After] The first analysis, the doctor is telling us we have to wait for the scan, but it doesn’t look good.” – Unai Emery on Tyrone Mings
Perhaps too much indecision over the summer didn’t help, either, with several different combinations of players being used at the back.
Villa may get away with it against Everton and Burnley in Gameweeks 2 and 3 but unless strides are made at the back, the clash with Liverpool in early September could be a goalfest.
DIABY A POSITIVE
Enough with the doom-mongering; Villa are still a very good team. Days like this have been few and far between under Emery.
From an attacking perspective, too, there was encouragement, at least before the second-half wilt.
The (sort of) ‘out of position’ midfielder Moussa Diaby (£6.5m) excites from a Fantasy perspective, his partnership with Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) showing promise in pre-season and on Tyneside.
The lively Diaby finished excellently from Watkins’ flick to briefly restore parity, with both players getting further decent chances to add to their FPL points totals.
“It was good news to watch Moussa playing and feeling good. His adaptation in the position we are trying to get with him was good and he scored and played well.” – Unai Emery
BOWEN OUT OF POSITION?
A lively affair on the south coast gave us a glimpse of what we can expect from Bournemouth under the front-foot Andoni Iraola.
Goalscorer Dominic Solanke (£6.0m) was encouragingly prominent in the West Ham box, registering over half (12 of 23) of his team’s penalty area touches.
David Brooks (£5.0m), on set plays and firing off shots from distance, also caught the eye, while Milos Kerkez (£4.5m) looks like an excellent signing at left-back.
They’re a difficult read ahead of Liverpool away, as they’re not going to boss possession (63% v West Ham) to the same extent at Anfield. The fact that the Hammers had 12 shots in the box, despite sitting back after their goal, would also be encouraging to Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) and co.
This spirited showing at least suggests they won’t be as meek as they were for the Parker-era 9-0.
West Ham’s own ‘Salah’, right-winger Jarrod Bowen (£7.0m), racked up six shots against the Cherries, one of which was his superb 51st-minute goal from distance.
And there were some interesting words on Bowen from David Moyes after full-time, suggesting Mr Dani Dyer could soon be deployed as a striker.
“It was a brilliant goal. Jarrod is becoming our major goalscorer. There’s a lot of talk about needing to buy a centre-forward but I’m going to see if Jarrod could do the job.
“He’s got the instincts and the sharpness. Hull played him at centre-forward so it’s not me trying to be a genius.” – David Moyes
£4.0m AREOLA STARTS
We had already witnessed one £4.0m FPL goalkeeper starting at the Emirates but another took his place between the posts at the Vitality Stadium.
Alphonse Areola (£4.0m) got the nod over Lukasz Fabianski (£4.5m) for West Ham, producing a couple of smart stops albeit while causing jitters with his footwork.
Moyes discussed his selection after the game:
“Łukasz Fabiański has been sensational for us in the time I’ve been here. The way he goes about his job is tremendous and everything he does is very, very good.
“But the decision, on this occasion, was to give Alphonse the chance to stake a claim to the no. 1. If you don’t play well, then you’ve got somebody else breathing down your neck.” – David Moyes
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