Kevin De Bruyne (£10.4m) announced his return to fitness with a match-turning cameo against Newcastle United on Saturday – and a double-digit Fantasy Premier League (FPL) haul.
Reaction to Saturday’s Gameweek 21 action continues as we look at the key FPL talking points from the five-goal thriller at St James’ Park.
DE BRUYNE’S FITNESS DISCUSSED AFTER SUPERB CAMEO
Guardiola described De Bruyne as a “special player [and] a legend” after the Belgian playmaker scored and assisted in Manchester City’s 3-2 win on Tyneside.
De Bruyne, introduced as a 69th-minute substitute, had brought the scores level at 2-2 with a trademark caressed finish and then supplied a brilliant assist for match-winner Oscar Bobb (£4.4m) in injury time.
The reaction has been predictably swift in FPL, with a further 300,000 managers transferring him in within 12 hours of the full-time whistle. A million teams had added him to their ranks in the run-up to Gameweek 21.
A winter break and a cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur precede the juicy-looking home match against Burnley in Gameweek 22, but don’t be counting on a start just yet.
“I know I’m not able to do that for 90 minutes for the moment but I know I can put in a shift for 20-25 minutes at full pace. I feel it in my lungs, with the cold!” – Kevin De Bruyne, speaking to TNT Sports
“Now I think his physical condition is for just minutes, you know when the opponent is a bit tired, for 35-40 minutes.” – Pep Guardiola on Kevin De Bruyne, speaking to TNT Sports
“Last season after 15-20 minutes of the Champions League final and after the first game against Burnley… five months out. That’s why we wanted him to take the right steps. He has to work harder, he has to prepare better than in the past. He is one more year [older], he isn’t 22 anymore. The older you get, you have to take care of yourself.
“The target is to play 90 minutes, 90 minutes, 90 minutes in a row. I don’t know when that’s going to happen but he’s intelligent and hopefully he’s going to manage soon.” – Pep Guardiola, speaking in in his post-match press conference
FODEN + ALVAREZ BLANK
De Bruyne’s introduction for Bernardo Silva (£6.5m) saw Phil Foden (£8.0m), the most-bought player of Gameweek 21, unsurprisingly move to the right flank.
Foden still had three shots after that point but his influence did wane in a wider role, having been at the centre – not just in a literal sense – of City’s play before that.
He and Julian Alvarez (£7.0m) each registered six goal attempts and created four chances apiece; on another day, there would have been at least one return for both of them. Foden skewed one effort off target when well placed then couldn’t adjust his feet when less than six yards out, while the best of Alvarez’s chances saw the Argentinian striker sting the hands of Martin Dubravka (£4.2m) before blazing over a glorious opening from close range.
It’s nothing we didn’t know already but as soon as De Bruyne is up to regular starts, then it’s potentially right-wing duty or benchings for Foden from that point. There is a chance that Guardiola could play both of them as ‘eights’ on either side of Rodri (£5.6m) but given what the City boss has said in the past about Foden’s off-the-ball work, there’d have to be question marks over that.
Bernardo had delivered his fourth attacking return in five matches with the game’s opener, a sumptuous backheeled finish from Kyle Walker‘s (£5.4m) cross. This was another game in which City’s full-backs were pushed high, with Walker and Josko Gvardiol (£4.8m) racking up eight penalty box touches and three shots between them.
HAALAND LATEST
Erling Haaland (£13.9m) was, of course, not available for this match.
There was no update on the Norwegian after the game at St James’ Park. However, in quotes you may not have seen from the embargoed section of Guardiola’s pre-match press conference on Friday, the striker is expected to be out until the end of January.
That could still put him on course for a return against Burnley but it’s no longer the near-certainty it once appeared.
“It’s fine, a little bit of a problem disturbing his feet. The doctors decided to stop for one week and maybe restart in Abu Dhabi.
“Hopefully at the end of this month, he’ll be ready. It was a little bit more than we expected in the beginning, in his bone.
“The bone needs time. With every injury, you can do whatever you want but it’s a question of time. At the end of this month, maybe he’ll be ready to come back.” – Pep Guardiola, speaking in his pre-match press conference
Manuel Akanji (£4.9m) is on a similar timeframe for recovery.
EDERSON INJURY
On the subject of City injuries, Ederson (£5.5m) lasted just eight minutes of the contest on Tyneside before limping off with a knock he picked up in an early collision.
Stefan Ortega‘s availability at £3.8m will have piqued the interest of Fantasy managers, especially with a Double Gameweek coming up, but Guardiola couldn’t tell us much about Ederson’s injury after full-time.
“He has a big knock, I didn’t speak with the doctors. He doesn’t walk well… but if it’s just a knock, he will be fine because we have now a break for 10 days. If there’s something damaged, the doctors will tell me, but I didn’t speak with them.” – Pep Guardiola on Ederson, speaking in in his post-match press conference
GORDON’S HOME FORM CONTINUES
Anthony Gordon (£6.1m) has passed a century of FPL points after his goal against City on Saturday.
Eleven of his 14 returns this season have come at home, where he now averages 6.9 points per match.
Alexander Isak (£7.6m) meanwhile scored for the third successive game, reaching double figures for the season.
He had a couple of other excellent openings, also teeing up Sean Longstaff (£4.8m) for an early disallowed goal.
Isak’s 10 strikes in 2023/24 have come from just 13 starts, with Haaland and Dominic Solanke (£7.1m) the only forwards to better his tally this season.
“Alex is an outstanding individual. His goal today was at the highest level.
“I thought that when he had his energy, his overall performance was outstanding. I thought he was a constant menace for them.
“He showed his ability to run, he showed his ability to link play, he showed his ability to finish.
“I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t get him in more dangerous situations in that second half because I’m sure he could’ve made the difference for us.” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak
One word of caution is that Callum Wilson (£7.8m) could be back for Gameweek 22, so the sharing of game-time in attack may rear its head again from that point.
NEWCASTLE SLOWLY TURNING THE CORNER?
This was Newcastle’s fourth successive league defeat and they could well be in the bottom half by the time Gameweek 22 comes around.
There have been better performances in league and cup in the last week, however, so with fewer fixtures to contest in the second half of the campaign (thanks to European elimination) and players gradually returning from injury, there is plenty of optimism that a corner could soon be turned.
A nice fixture run from Gameweeks 23-32 awaits, too:
Defensive improvements still need to be made, with City racking up 27 shots and 3.0 xG here. That’ll be of encouragement for Aston Villa’s attacking assets come Gameweek 22.
But with last season’s back four now fit again and a winter break ahead, you wouldn’t be surprised to see that cohesion return – and clean sheets arrive with a greater frequency from February onwards.
Tino Livramento (£4.4m) missed this game through illness, incidentally.
