Ivan Toney (£8.0m) was back on the pitch and on the scoresheet as Brentford secured a much-needed three points in Saturday’s clash with Nottingham Forest.
His return is the key Fantasy talking point from Saturday’s evening kick-off.
HOW TONEY LOOKED ON HIS COMEBACK
Toney’s 19th-minute free-kick, in which he craftily moved the stationary ball into a more advantageous position and curled around a poorly organised defensive wall, was his only shot of the game. That’s far from ideal from a Fantasy perspective, although history tells us (one big chance per match in 2022/23, for instance) that those stats should improve.
And his wider impact was undeniable.
The Bees have lacked a presence in attack in his absence this season but he visibly lifted the hosts’ levels and there was no sign of rust.
The link-up play was exemplary. Others benefitted from the space vacated by the defenders he was occupying.
“Scoring a clever goal, his link-up play, his hold-up play, his presence, his work ethic, defending set pieces… super, super impressive.
“When you have big personalities or big players, good players, they normally to lift the rest of the team. His personality and character was immense.” – Thomas Frank on Ivan Toney
Above: Ivan Toney’s heatmap in Gameweek 21
Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.7m), playing at left wing-back with new signing Sergio Reguilon (£4.4m) watching on from the bench, had four clear openings, all of which had Toney involved in the build-up. One of them was directly created by the striker himself, a superb cross to the back post that Lewis-Potter could only stab at Matt Turner (£3.9m).
Reguilon could certainly prosper in those positions when he comes into starting XI contention from Gameweek 23.
Neal Maupay (£4.9m) seemed to enjoy playing alongside Toney, latching on to several flick-ons from his strike partner and slamming home a superb winner. Toney, naturally, was involved, ‘assisting the assister’ when spraying the ball wide for Mads Roerslev (£4.4m).
“I’m glad for Neal to get the winner because he works hard in training. We’ve got our partnership and I’m sure we’ll score many goals together.” – Ivan Toney
“It’s clear that [Toney and Maupay] have got an eye for each other and they connect well. I like it.” – Thomas Frank
Yoane Wissa (£5.7m), of course, will soon be back from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to challenge Maupay for his place.
A tough run of games now awaits Brentford but, as mentioned in our Ones to Watch article earlier this month, Toney scored five goals and assisted another against his Gameweeks 22-28 opponents last season (10 games played).
CLEAN SHEET DROUGHT GOES ON
Both Brentford and Forest are now on 10-match runs without a clean sheet. No Premier League side is suffering a more prolonged drought.
That’s encouragement for the north London sides, who face these two clubs in Gameweek 22.
While there were some excellent goals to spoil the shut-outs, particularly Danilo‘s (£5.3m) opener, neither side looked secure at the back. The two goalkeepers don’t inspire confidence, while even Brentford’s shift back to a 3-5-2 hasn’t really had the desired effect in terms of defensive solidity.
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WOOD GOOD
Chris Wood (£4.9m) made it five goals in four matches under Nuno Espirito Santo with a flicked header for Forest’s second strike.
The budget Fantasy forward averages an excellent 7.1 points per start this season, a rate that only Erling Haaland (£13.9m) and Toney (from one appearance!) can better among forwards.
It’s worth pointing out that Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.3m) is on the cusp of a comeback from injury, however, so Wood will soon face competition for his place.
Forest were down six players thanks to AFCON involvement, while they were also without key midfielders Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.7m) and Anthony Elanga (£5.1m) thanks to injury. Brentford’s victory needs to be given some perspective, then, although the Bees themselves are hard hit by unavailability at present.
Gibbs-White should be back for Gameweek 22, at least.
