The three remaining Premier League matches from Saturday are the focus of our latest Scout Notes.
Read on for Brighton and Hove Albion v Crystal Palace, Everton v Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United v Aston Villa.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Gordon injury + Luton’s Double Gameweek 25 audition
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 23: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
ESTUPINAN BENCHED
Pervis Estupinan (£5.1m) missed out on the Brighton points bonanza in Saturday’s A23 derby after being benched and limited to a 10-minute cameo.
Taken off at half-time of the defeat to Luton Town in midweek, any injury fears were assuaged when the Ecuador international was passed fit by Roberto De Zerbi on Friday.
But he was only among the substitutes when the teamsheets were released at the Amex, his place at left wing-back taken by Tariq Lamptey (£3.9m).
Sussex Express speculated that his game time was being “managed after a couple of long-term injuries”, the last of which saw him return in late December after three months out.
But there was no real clue from De Zerbi after full-time, at least in the media interviews we’ve seen.
In the absence of an explanation, there are now understandable reservations about his worth as a Fantasy pick.
Lamptey was impressive in the wing-back role, supplying the assist for Albion’s second with a cross for Jack Hinshelwood (£4.5m).
Lamptey’s own record with injury means that he won’t likely be overworked but the minutes threat is obviously there. And given how advanced the role is (see below), is it something Kaoru Mitoma (£6.4m) could do upon his return in Gameweek 24?
Above: Brighton’s average position map in Gameweek 23
More evidence is needed but this is a cut-throat Fantasy world we live in, so there’s no surprise to see Estupinan as the second-most-sold defender of Gameweek 24.
MORE BODIES BACK FOR ALBION
As mentioned above, Mitoma will be back for next weekend’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur after Japan were eliminated from the Asian Cup.
Simon Adingra (£5.0m) will be available in Gameweek 25 after his own international duty is over, while Joel Veltman (£4.3m) is very close to fitness and Ansu Fati (£6.4m) returned as a substitute at the Amex on Saturday.
The competition for places is about to hot up even more, then.
And something to watch out for is Brighton’s schedule, which reverts to two games a week from Gameweek 26 onwards thanks to FA Cup and UEFA Europa League involvement. At that point, expect the unexpected in De Zerbi’s starting XIs.
Saturday was a reminder of why we covet Albion assets in the first place.
A swaggering attacking display saw Brighton three nil up after half an hour, with Pascal Gross (£6.4m) setting up the first and third goals for Lewis Dunk (£5.0m) and Facundo Buonanotte (£4.7m).
If there is someone likely to (mostly) avoid the medium-term rotation, it’s Gross.
The man of the moment, Joao Pedro (£5.4m), converted a brilliant fourth.
EZE, OLISE + GUEHI INJURY LATEST
Crystal Palace have some good fixtures coming up between now and Gameweek 28, including a beleaguered Chelsea and three of the bottom five.
On a 12-game clean sheet drought and potentially without Michael Olise (£5.9m), Eberechi Eze (£6.0m) and Marc Guehi (£4.4m) through injury, you’d have to wonder whether all Fantasy appeal is now lost.
Eze was absent altogether for this match with a muscle tear, while Guehi hobbled off after less than half an hour. Olise then lasted just 11 minutes of a second-half substitute appearance before succumbing to another hamstring issue.
“The worst thing today was the injuries. We’re already without [Ebere] Eze. [Michael] Olise we knew could only play in the second half of the game and when he did play, he’s picked up an injury.
“Marc Guéhi picked up an injury too, so that’s three important players who weren’t able to play in the game.
“[Olise] took part in the training yesterday and we were told that it’s not a good idea to start him, but he’s okay for the bench and you can use him on the bench, so that’s what we did.
“There’s no point in me talking about hindsight. Of course, if someone had said ‘If you put him on and he’s going to last nine minutes and get injured’, I wouldn’t have done so, but we put him on because we thought he was able to play and we’d been given the green light that he could play in the second half, not starting the game, so we wanted to get one of our better players on the field.
“[Eze’s] scan results show there is a tear in his muscle. Hopefully, it’s not a major one, but it’s there, so I can’t say I’m super optimistic, but these are things we have to live with.” – Roy Hodgson
VILLA RESPOND
Mirroring what Brighton did after a disappointing midweek loss, Aston Villa turned on the style in Gameweek 23.
Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) led the charge, claiming assists for strikes from John McGinn (£5.5m), Leon Bailey (£5.6m) and Alex Moreno (£5.1m) and scoring a goal of his own.
Watkins is now top of the table for Fantasy attacking returns in 2023/24:
Bailey, meanwhile, is averaging 1.09 attacking returns per 90 minutes, almost level with Watkins (1.11).
There wasn’t a bad Villa performance across the field and this was further fuel to the fire that the starting XI – Diego Carlos (£4.4m) and Bailey in for Moussa Diaby (£6.5m) and Matty Cash (£4.7m) – is the best available to Unai Emery.
WHY LUIZ + KONSA WERE SUBBED
The further good news is that Douglas Luiz (£5.6m) and Ezri Konsa (£4.6m) seem to have avoided injury, despite their withdrawals at Bramall Lane. In Konsa’s case, the exit came a minute or so short of him being able to claim clean sheet points.
Luiz was taken off at half-time due to illness, while Konsa wasn’t risked after colliding with the woodwork.
“[Luiz] felt not very well before the match this morning. He wanted to play because he was feeling with the power to play and to get the performance to help the team.
“In the first half, I decided to change him because I was caring for him and trying to rest him after the issues. It’s not important.
“He decided to play because he was feeling strong to help the team but I decided in the first half to change him.
“At the beginning, [Konsa] has no circumstances of an injury, but I chose to change him.” – Unai Emery
Up next for Aston Villa is an FA Cup replay against Chelsea; elimination there would guarantee Villa a fixture in Blank Gameweek 29, which would only boost the appeal of Watkins and co.
To be fair to Sheffield United, this was actually the first time they’ve really been hammered in nine games under Chris Wilder.
Ben Brereton Diaz (£5.0m) continues to catch the eye, wasting an excellent early chance to make it three goals in as many games.
The expected goals score of 1.48-2.19 made the game seem tighter than it was: the vast majority of the Blades’ xG came from four shots in one madcap minute of penalty box pinball at 5-0.
A TALE OF TWO STRIKERS
The Gameweek 23 curtain-raiser saw the meeting of the biggest xG underachievers of the season versus the second-biggest overachievers.
Everton racked up the shots, as they have done in a lot of games, but once again failed to turn their strong underlying numbers into three points. No side has scored on fewer occasions from open play (13) in 2023/24.
They at least managed to convert two set pieces through Jack Harrison (£5.5m) and Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.1m), the Toffees’ 12th and 13th goals from corners and free-kicks.
The below comparison makes for grim reading for poor old Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m), who has failed to find the back of the net once since Richarlison’s (£7.2m) nine-goal streak began.
Above: Richarlison v Dominic Calvert–Lewin, sorted by big chances (BCT) from Gameweek 16 onwards
The Brazilian added another two goals to his tally on his old stomping ground, both excellently taken strikes.
“Richy was good again, not just his goals but his general play. It was again really important for us. He worked hard for the team and there’s more to come from Richy. He’s working hard on his game.” – Ange Postecoglou
UDOGIE DELIVERS AGAIN
Richarlison was the lone bright spark in the Lilywhites attack that lacked its usual fluency, with James Maddison (£7.9m) still feeling his way back into the first team after so long out. Maddison at least claimed the assist for his team’s second goal and had a couple of long-range efforts of his own well saved.
As decent as Brennan Johnson‘s (£5.8m) and Timo Werner’s (£6.5m) contributions have been over the last few weeks, there’s little doubt that Son Heung-min (£9.6m) comes straight back into the XI when he’s back from the Asian Cup, likely in Gameweek 25.
The competition for places in the Spurs attack is certainly fiercer than it was earlier in the season, with Dejan Kulusevski (£7.0m) here experiencing his first league benching of the campaign.
Destiny Udogie (£4.8m) meanwhile backed up Gameweek 22’s goal with an assist on Merseyside. He’s actually level with the more widely owned Pedro Porro (£5.9m) for chances created over the last six Gameweeks (10), although the latter continues to shoot with a higher frequency and retains control at set plays.
