FPL notes: Ait-Nouri to “probably” start, Cunha hope + Toney latest

There’s the usual mix of injury news and on-field analysis to bring you from Saturday’s three Gameweek 34 fixtures.

• FPL notes: Haaland injury latest + Palmer fitness update
• FPL Gameweek 34: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats

CUNHA TO MAKE MIDWEEK RETURN?

Fantasy managers who brought Matheus Cunha (£5.6m) in early for Double Gameweek 34 were dealt a big blow last Friday.

However, those who kept hold of him may get a Gameweek 34 fixture out of him yet.

Cunha, along with Nelson Semedo (£4.5m), was absent as expected for Saturday’s loss to Arsenal.

But both are improving and could return to the squad for the next two home games.

“Yeah, we’re hopeful. That doesn’t mean that he’ll definitely make it, as I said it’s quite a rare injury so there’s not too much to go off sort of history-wise with how long they take.

“He’s feeling better again today, Nelson’s feeling better again today, so we won’t take any crazy risks with anybody but the next two games are very important for us, so pushing hard to get as many available as possible.” – Gary O’Neil on whether Matheus Cunha could be back fit this week

AIT-NOURI WILL “PROBABLY” START

There were heartening comments for Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) owners, too, after his injury-enforced Saturday evening cameo.

“Pleased that Rayan got through some minutes, as well. He tried to take on the whole Arsenal team on his own to announce his comeback to the world but yeah, I thought it was good to have him back.

“Yeah, you’ll see more – well, touch wood – than 20 minutes of Ait-Nouri against Bournemouth.

“Yeah, probably [he’ll start].” – Gary O’Neil

And there’s more.

Pablo Sarabia (£4.8m) and Mario Lemina (£4.9m) were both held back against the Gunners, restricted to second-half runouts like Ait-Nouri.

“Yeah, hopefully [benching Sarabia and Lemina will help them start in the next two games].

“It was tough. I was trying to pick a team for tonight also with the rest of the week in mind, trying to juggle… there’s normally 100 minutes in a game now, so that’s 300 minutes that need to be played. When there’s only 10 available that can complete 90, it’s trying to juggle how you’re going to get that 10 though the week to give us the best chance of picking up the most points possible.

“It was a tough call but we felt today we’d be able to produce that high-energy performance and get a couple of them a bit of a rest.

“Pablo’s groin settled down even further and hopefully it will do them both good not to have gone through 90 minutes this evening. Hopefully, they will be feeling a bit better come Wednesday.” – Gary O’Neil

Increasingly this looks like Gary O’Neil sacrificing the Arsenal match in order to have a fitter squad for two more winnable home games – a bit like what Rob Edwards did at the Etihad last week.

ARSENAL RETURN TO WINNING WAYS

O’Neil half-hoisting the white flag for the Saturday evening game means there’s an asterisk next to this Arsenal win.

With a semi-fit Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m), a teenage full debutant and a central midfielder forming the Wolves attack, there weren’t too many scares: an xG of just 0.14 for the hosts tells a tale.

We’ll save any ‘Arsenal are back’ narratives till after Tuesday’s clash with Chelsea, then, as that should be more of a test.

In fairness to the Gunners, they had a tight turnaround from Wednesday’s gruelling defeat in Munich.

A 15th clean sheet of the season, the sixth straight one on the road, was banked with minimal fuss. David Raya (£5.2m) did make one excellent save against the woodwork and commanded his area well but he’ll seldom waltz to maximum bonus points with such ease.

Kai Havertz (£7.4m) was again in a deeper midfield role but he still looked the most threatening of Arsenal’s XI, racking up five shots in total. There’s a decent chance he’ll be leading the line against his old side on Tuesday.

Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) was better without being great. One slaloming run in injury time almost resulted in a fine solo goal.

Martin Odegaard (£8.6m) did net late on, getting the rub of the green but finishing well when his blocked cutback fell at his own feet. And no, that’s not a Havertz assist.

WHERE’S TONEY?

Ivan Toney (£8.0m) seems to be adopting some sort of Benjamin Button approach to his recovery from injury. Fit enough for a cameo in Gameweek 32, he was an unused substitute last week. Now he’s not even in the matchday squad.

Thomas Frank hopes he can be back in Gameweek 35 but the Brentford boss made similar noises last week – so let’s see.

“I really believed that he could be ready for this game but it was just too soon. I strongly believe that he’ll be ready for Everton, that’s the hope and the plan.” – Thomas Frank on Ivan Toney

The Bees didn’t really miss him.

Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.7m) joined Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m) and Yoane Wissa (£5.7m) in the front three this week, the latter leading the line and bagging a brace. Mbeumo meanwhile assisted twice, played a big part in two of the other goals and whacked the woodwork himself.

There were strong performances across the park. Lewis-Potter, who looks to be a specialist at ghosting in at the back post, scored once and should have had two more. He leads the way for xG in Gameweek 34 so far.

The defence ought to have kept their third clean sheet in four, too. An injury-time error ruined that; Luton had created very little before then. So rarely have the plucky Hatters been so dominated, even when losing.

“For the first time really this season just looked like we lacked a bit of belief in that second half. That’s something that we’ve got to make sure that we snap out of very, very quickly. I don’t know why it’s happened as we know the importance of the game and to lose it in that manner is desperately disappointing right now, and a tough day for us.” – Rob Edwards

The absurdly offensive Sergio Reguilon (£4.5m) had to make do with his attacking return and bonus, then: this was his sixth assist in his last nine starts.

With several injured players back and some more decent fixtures ahead, the Bees carry some late-season appeal if you can overlook the lack of a double.

PROMOTED PARTY OVER?

The three promoted sides have all flirted with us at some point this season, each enjoying at least one Double Gameweek. It’s Sheffield United’s turn in Gameweek 34.

Beyond this week, though, there are no more Double Gameweeks for the struggling newbies. Appeal is likely to be limited. You’d maybe back against the doublers with Arsenal and Liverpool assets; you probably wouldn’t do the same with Tahith Chong (£4.5m).

The battle between 20th and 19th went the way of the Clarets but it was a closer match than it seemed: the Blades actually led the way for xG (2.43-2.18). Ari Muric (£4.3m) had a stormer, Ivo Grbic (£4.5m) didn’t.

Maverick Gameweek 34 gambles Oli McBurnie (£5.4m) and Ben Brereton (£5.0m) each should have been on the scoresheet again, wasting big chances. Gus Hamer (£4.9m) did convert but he and McBurnie may not get a chance to add to their totals, having come off with muscle tightness.

Maintaining the Fantasy tradition of random names outscoring popular picks in a Double Gameweek, Lorenz Assignon (£4.0m) is the round’s highest scorer so far. The full-back found the net and later assisted a goal for Lyle Foster (£4.7m), who Vincent Kompany doesn’t believe has picked up an injury. The striker had appeared to hobble off late on.

That’s now just one defeat in seven for Burnley, who haven’t conceded more than two goals in a single match in that time.