Double Gameweek 37 continued with a six-goal thriller at Villa Park on Monday night.
We review Aston Villa 3-3 Liverpool in our Scout Notes.
VILLA EDGE CLOSER TO TOP FOUR
Aston Villa’s 3-3 draw with Liverpool did not seal UEFA Champions League qualification, but it takes them mighty close.
Unai Emery’s men looked down and out with five minutes to go on Monday, with a calamitous Emiliano Martinez (£5.2m) own goal and miss-of-the-season contender by Diego Carlos (£4.4m) seemingly gifting the points to Liverpool.
Above: The xG on Diego Carlos’ chance v Liverpool was 0.9912
However, Villa fought back and salvaged a point courtesy of super sub Jhon Duran (£5.0m), taking them five clear of Tottenham Hotspur in fifth.
Spurs must now win both of their remaining games, against Manchester City on Tuesday and Sheffield United on Sunday, to have a chance.
Fantasy returns were few and far between for the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) assets at Villa Park, with only Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) of the usual suspects leaving with more than appearance points.
He notched his 18th assist of the season, more than any other player in the Premier League. He also had a goal ruled out for offside.
However, some of the less-heralded FPL players impressed.
GAKPO IMPRESSES/ROBERTSON LATEST
Goalscorer Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) was the pick of the Liverpool front three.
The Dutchman has now returned in three of his last four starts, a period which has seen him register two goals and two assists.
He’s also racked up a team-leading 2.44 expected goal involvement (xGI) during that run:
Elsewhere, Mohamed Salah (£13.4m) got into some decent-ish positions but faded and was saved by the offside flag, when he skied a shot from inside the six-yard box from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s (£8.4m) cross.
Liverpool have nothing tangible to play for in Gameweek 38 but it’s Jurgen Klopp’s final game in charge and it sounds like the players want to put on a show.
“We’ve definitely got to play our way and give him a good send off. Just keep fighting until the death and obviously just play for that really, give him the best send-off on Sunday.” – Jarrell Quansah on Jurgen Klopp
As for Andrew Robertson (£6.5m), he was left out on Monday as a precaution but is expected to be fit for Gameweek 38.
“I saw him this morning and he told me he is ready to train from tomorrow on. That’s the situation.” – Jurgen Klopp on Andrew Robertson
OLISE ON THE RADAR
Aston Villa have been one of the success stories of the season.
However, the wheels have fallen off somewhat over the last few weeks, with three defeats and two draws in their last five matches in all competitions.
Villa were all over the place in the early stages on Monday and they’re now 18th for big chances conceded over the last four. They’re also 15th for expected goals conceded (xGC).
“We competed very well even though we played more chaotic than usual.” – Unai Emery
Up next for Villa is Crystal Palace and there’ll be plenty of takers in Michael Olise (£5.7m). He is FPL’s most-bought midfielder of the upcoming Gameweek at the time of writing:
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