Manchester City v Fulham and Brentford v Bournemouth are the latest Gameweek 4 matches to get the Scout Notes treatment.
In these articles, we endeavour to pick out the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from each game.
HAALAND STILL ON PENALTIES…
…as if there was any doubt.
Erling Haaland (£14.0m) missed from 12 yards in Gameweek 3 but was back on penalties against Fulham on Saturday, despatching this latest spot-kick en route to a hat-trick.
“First of all, Erling Haaland is a strong character. There were no doubts in our minds that he was going to take that penalty.
“He has scored many penalties and if we’d got another penalty in the previous game, he would have taken it because he’s won that right to take penalties.
“The one he took last weekend wasn’t bad, it hit the post and those can easily hit the post and go in.” – Juanma Lillo
Haaland’s treble shot him up to first in the FPL points standings, where he may remain for the rest of 2023/24.
After four Gameweeks last season, he had six goals, one assist and one hat-trick to his name. He’s got exactly the same this time around.
CITY HIT FIVE IN SECOND GEAR
City struggled to break down Newcastle United and Sheffield United in the previous two Gameweeks. Against Fulham, they had only seven shots all game. It’s hard to remember a match in recent times when they’ve had so few opportunities, and this was supposed to be a cakewalk against a Cottagers side without Joao Palhinha (£5.0m).
“Today in the first half, none of the team played well. We didn’t find that freshness and our opponents made it difficult for us.” – Juanma Lillo
And yet… they still won 5-1. They’re also top of the league, and they’re the only Premier League team with a 100% record. City’s ‘below par’ is most teams’ A-game.
DOKU DEBUT
Jeremy Doku (£6.5m) had a muted debut after Jack Grealish (£7.4m) missed out with a minor thigh injury. Starting on the right flank, Doku was soon switched to the opposite wing in order for Phil Foden (£7.6m) to take up the position he’s been so effective in of late.
“I’m frustrated that I can’t provide assists or goals for the team, as a first debut I tried my best and try to do it for the next games.” – Jeremy Doku
Foden ended the match with an expected goal involvement (xGI) of just 0.02 but that didn’t really tell the full picture. While not at his best, like everyone else, there were darting runs and flashed crosses that wouldn’t have been picked up by the Opta xGI bods.
Foden at least claimed the assist for Nathan Ake‘s (£5.1m) contentious header, while Julian Alvarez‘s (£6.6m) fine form continued with a 14-point haul that lifted him to second in the FPL forwards’ points table.
With Grealish, Bernardo Silva (£6.4m) and new signing Matheus Nunes (£5.0m) waiting in the wings, there’s obvious rotation risk. In matches in which Pep Guardiola desires ‘control’, such as Gameweek 8’s trip to Arsenal, Alvarez or Foden may be sacrificed. But it’s the easier-on-paper fixtures that we want our City assets to start in any case, given an either/or choice. Alvarez and Foden remain the likeliest sources of goals and chances from midfield, in the post-Gundogan era and with Kevin De Bruyne (£10.3m) injured, against deeper blocks.
One final note on City: the team leak on Friday turned out to be spot on – so we all know where to go ahead of Gameweek 5…
THE LATE, LATE SHOW
Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m) once again highlighted the upside of owning players who regularly last 90 minutes by grabbing his second stoppage-time goal of 2023/24.
Mbeumo had earlier wasted a sitter against Bournemouth but converted a 93rd-minute breakaway effort in confident fashion. Those two ‘big chances’ swelled Mbeumo’s expected numbers for the season further: he’s not only the leading Premier League player for xGI but also non-penalty xGI – so he’s not overly relying on spot-kicks:
Above: FPL assets sorted by NPxGI in 2023/24
Brentford as a collective are top for xG among all 20 Premier League clubs. That’ll no doubt be a great source of pride to them, given how much stock they put in underlying data.
Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) was one of three Bees to hit the woodwork on Saturday; Mbeumo, for once, wasn’t among them. Referee Bobby Madeley did his best to stop Mathias Jensen‘s (£5.4m) free-kick goal, meanwhile, with goalline technology failing him at the wrong moment.
It was Rico Henry (£4.6m) who supplied the passes for both Mbeumo’s glaring miss and Wissa’s post-thwack, the left-back catching the eye again going forward. He was, however, culpable for Bournemouth’s second goal with a slack backpass.
A Gameweek 5 trip to Newcastle United doesn’t look as daunting as it once did, with the Magpies losing heavily at Brighton on Saturday. Fabian Schar (£5.0m) was hobbling about at the end of that game, so Newcastle may have concerns over both first-choice centre-backs.
A word on Bournemouth, who despite having a summer change of manager look pretty much like they did in 2022/23: capable of scoring goals at one end and very capable of conceding them at the other.
Dominic Solanke (£6.5m) finished well to deliver his third attacking return in four Gameweeks but the Cherries’ goal was living a charmed life, while left-back Milos Kerkez (£4.5m) saw a right-wing opponent find the net for a fourth straight match.
Encouragement for Raheem Sterling (£7.2m), then, ahead of Gameweek 5.
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