Dejan Kulusevski (£7.1m) inspired 10-man Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, as Gameweek 17 got underway at the City Ground.
We pick out the main Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Friday’s clash in our Scout Notes.
JOHNSON INJURY LATEST
Brennan Johnson’s (£5.8m) return to the City Ground was cut short, with the Welshman subbed off with a head injury shortly before half-time.
After receiving treatment for a few minutes, he was replaced by Oliver Skipp (£4.6m).
The change was confirmed as a concussion substitute, yet it was later revealed Johnson’s withdrawal was due to a deep cut on his head, which Ange Postecoglou explained after the full-time whistle.
“He should be ok. He’s just got a nasty cut to his head. Nothing that should keep him out. No concussion, just a cut on his head.” – Ange Postecoglou on Brennan Johnson
UDOGIE BAN
Destiny Udogie (£4.8m) picked up his fifth yellow card of the season at the City Ground, which means the left-back will now miss the Gameweek 18 clash with Everton.
In a further blow, Yves Bissouma (£5.0m) was shown a red card for the second time this season, meaning he will miss Tottenham’s next four matches.
He’s then off to AFCON, so we won’t see the Mali international for quite some time now.
“RICHY IS A GOALMOUTH PREDATOR”
Fresh from his brace against Newcastle United in Gameweek 16, Richarlison was at it again on Friday.
Heading in Kulusevski’s fantastic delivery, the Brazilian has now returned in back-to-back Gameweeks, scoring three goals and claiming 24 FPL points.
Here, he played through the middle again with Son Heung-min (£9.6m) on the left.
In truth, Richarlison didn’t see much of the ball (19 touches) and found the net with his only shot, but he is certainly looking livelier following his groin surgery and will now be looking to score in three successive games against former club Everton in Gameweek 18.
Son racked up four shots and missed a decent early chance from a Kulusevski through ball, meanwhile.
However, he was often closed down quickly by Neco Williams (£4.3m) and Ryan Yates (£4.8m) whenever he had possession, with his impact lessening as the match went on.
Discussing Richarlison and why he chose to start him through the middle again, Postecoglou said:
“Richy is a goalmouth predator. Definitely in the air. He’s got different attributes to Sonny. I didn’t think we’d get in behind today, I thought we’d struggle to get space in behind and I’m really pleased with Richy. Watching him during the week I was really confident he’d go out there and do another job for us.” – Ange Postecoglou on Richarlison
“Richy’s been good and he was good again tonight. Not an easy game, we weren’t going to get a lot of space back there. His impact is in the box. It was a great ball by Deki [Kulusevski] and that’s what Richy’s really good at. His timing in the air, his ability to get the ball in the back of the net in those kinds of situations was vital for us tonight.
“I think he’s in a better space physically and mentally. As I said during the week it was hard for him but he soldiered on. At the same time, he knows that people will be assuming that if he’s out there then you’re going to perform at a certain level and you can’t make excuses. He’s definitely feeling a lot better about himself physically and mentally now and for a striker scoring goals is obviously important, but just his general all-round play has been really good for us the last couple of weeks.” – Ange Postecoglou on Richarlison
KULU INSPIRES
Dejan Kulusevski scored one and made another against Nottingham Forest, in an excellent all-round display.
The 23-year-old started in a central role at the City Ground but moved to the right flank when Johnson went off after half an hour, which is where he supplied the assist for Richarlison’s opener.
He then scored Spurs’ second himself on his weaker foot, having capitalised on a poor Matt Turner (£3.9m) clearance.
Since James Maddison’s (£7.8m) injury, Kulusevski has really stepped up and he’s now third among all FPL midfielders for chances created (16) from Gameweek 12 onwards.
He’s also attempted 11 shots in that time, just two fewer than Son.
“Yeah, he was great. He’s been great all year to be fair. We’ve played him in a number of positions. We started him off in the middle and I thought he was really good and causing them problems. I thought we were looking really strong through that early bit and created a couple of really good opportunities.
“Then Brennan goes off and we had to put him wide. We know what he can do out there and we’ve been working hard with him to become more of a goal threat. We feel that’s the one aspect of his game that he still needs to bridge a gap. He’s taken that on board and he’s now getting into positions where he can score goals. He has in the last few games and his general work rate is outstanding but he’s got the quality to back it up.” – Ange Postecoglou on Dejan Kulusevski
Elsewhere, the most-bought defender of Gameweek 17, Pedro Porro (£5.4m), was a constant outlet down the right and sneaked into the bonus late on, securing eight FPL points.
COOPER UNDER PRESSURE
Nottingham Forest have now registered just one win in their past 13 Premier League fixtures, as their worrying form continues.
The Tricky Trees’ performance against Spurs was actually one of their better ones in recent times, they just lacked a cutting edge in front of goal.
Willy Boly (£4.5m) missed a decent chance, Williams hit the post and Anthony Elanga (£5.0m) had a goal disallowed, they just couldn’t quite find enough quality in the final-third, despite getting into good positions.
As for Matt Turner, he made four saves but let himself down with Kulusevski’s goal, so another start in Gameweek 18 is far from guaranteed.
Forest are back in action in just over a week when they face in-form Bournemouth at the City Ground.
