Saturday’s Premier League football was bookended by missed penalties and not-too-convincing wins for big-six sides.
Our latest Scout Notes covers Southampton 0-3 Manchester United and Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea.
Up for discussion: budget Saints players, United injury news and belated joy for Christopher Nkunku (£6.2m) owners.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Pedro + Wissa injury updates, Pep on rotation
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 4: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
NEW PENALTY TAKERS… AND MISSERS
Robert Sanchez (£4.5m) and Andre Onana (£5.0m) saved spot-kicks on Saturday to emerge from Gameweek 4 with double-digit hauls.
The penalties were missed by two summer signings, Evanilson (£6.0m) and Cameron Archer (£5.0m).
In Bournemouth’s case, there was a void to be filled from 12 yards after the departure of Dominic Solanke (£7.5m). Justin Kluivert (£5.4m) had taken one in pre-season, although Evanilson wasn’t around then.
On Saturday, Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) were lingering around the penalty spot and in discussion with Evanilson after Sanchez had felled the Brazilian.
In the end, it was the £45m striker who stepped up – and missed.
Andoni Iraola confirmed after the game that two of his players are responsible for spot-kicks.
“We are very clear. Evan[ilson] and Justin [Kluivert] are normally the ones. They have this responsibility, they talked between themselves and decided to go with Evan. It hasn’t been a bad penalty – for me, it’s a great save.” – Andoni Iraola
As for Southampton, Adam Armstrong (£5.4m) is their usual taker but he was benched at St Mary’s.
Archer failed to take advantage. After the game, Russell Martin was asked why Ben Brereton Diaz (£5.4m), who has more experience from 12 yards, didn’t get the nod. It may be that the Chile international gets the honours next time – if Armstrong isn’t around.
“Ben’s quite a bit older than Cam [hence why he’s taken more career penalties]. We’ve had a chat about it. Cam’s practised a lot over the last two weeks whilst he’s been here and Ben hasn’t.
“He’s done brilliantly with them. He’s a number nine and at some point will want to take penalties. He felt really confident to take one and Ben was happy.
“One of those things, if he scores, he’s off and away. But he didn’t so it’s going to get questioned. It’s on me and the decision we made and it’s the wrong one.
“I don’t think Ben would be [happy if Archer took the next one] because he maybe would want it. I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see if Cam’s on the pitch. We’ll talk about it.
“I think he played really well, Cam, so it’s disappointing for him. But Adam Armstrong takes it if he’s on the pitch, he’s our penalty taker, but he wasn’t.” – Russell Martin
£4.5m MIDFIELDER IMPRESSES…
Anyone who followed our pre-season Scout Notes would probably have encountered praise for Tyler Dibling (£4.5m). The 18-year-old was Southampton’s star of the summer, carrying on his strong displays with some early-season cameos.
He finally got his chance from the start on Saturday. A livewire down the right, he tested Onana and drew the penalty that Archer missed. No one was fouled as much as the teenage attacking midfielder, underscoring how much United struggled against him.
At an FPL price rung where your best bets for minutes are usually defensive midfielders, Dibling is definitely one to monitor.
Probably the only thing holding him back is his youth and stamina levels; Martin confirmed he was “cramping” when being substituted on the hour.
“He was one of many [positives] but he’s an outstanding footballer.
“I just don’t want to put too much pressure on him too early, but he’s going to be a really top player if he keeps listening and keeps working how he is.
“The mentality in the last year, how much he’s grown, has been amazing. He needs to continue to do that and he will give us moments that other people can’t.
“He probably deserved to play before today because he was outstanding in pre-season. He can be flexible in terms of position.
“There was a level of loyalty in the first games to feel our way in and trust in other players but he deserved to play and I thought he was brilliant.” – Russell Martin on Tyler Dibling
…AND A £4.5M FORWARD GETS MINUTES
Archer became the cheapest starting FPL forward of 2024/25 so far with his full debut.
But a striker who costs even less than £5.0m also got onto the field. These were the first minutes recorded by a still-active £4.5m forward this season.
Ross Stewart (£4.5m) has had a torrid two years with injuries but was once a highly regarded Championship striker.
Given the Saints’ struggles for goals, there’s hope that he can at least continue to get minutes off the bench while he slowly builds his fitness levels up. Thereafter, who knows?
“I thought he was great. I’m really pleased. He’s been in a good place for a few weeks now, to be honest.
“He maybe wouldn’t have been on the bench as we were going to wait until Tuesday but Will Smallbone picked up a little bit of an injury away with Ireland.
“So Ross was the one I wanted to go to naturally and I thought he was brilliant when he came on.” – Russell Martin on Ross Stewart
Elsewhere on budget asset watch, Taylor Harwood-Bellis (£4.0m) was benched not just for the first time this season but also the first time since his Saints debut a year ago. A change from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 meant one fewer centre-half, and he was the fall guy after some early-season struggles.
The good news for Harwood-Bellis owners is that Jack Stephens (£4.0m) is now suspended for the next two league games following his straight red card, so he’ll presumably step straight back into the side.
PAPERING OVER CRACKS?
United were ultimately comfortable winners at St Mary’s. They deserve some credit for their reaction to the penalty miss, as well as their decision to go for the jugular after the opener.
Up until Archer’s 30th-minute spot-kick, however, they were second best. Had that gone in, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened after the two previous losses.
Amad Diallo (£5.0m) really impressed, creating a match-high six chances. One of them saw him tee up Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) for United’s second. Can Amad be this season’s Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m) from the £5.0m midfield bracket? It’s a bit too premature to say that but he’s one to watch.
Garnacho, on international duty in midweek, came off the bench to round off the victory. Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) meanwhile finally delivered an attacking return, although a solitary assist – he crossed for Matthijs de Ligt‘s (£5.0m) goal – against Southampton was on the underwhelming side.
There were three double-digit hauls from the United backline, including Onana. There were concerns over three of the starting defenders, however, with de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui (£4.5m) and Lisandro Martinez (£4.5m) all limping off.
De Ligt’s issue was just cramp but Erik ten Hag said the other two would need to be assessed.
“It looks like [cramp for de Ligt] yes.
“Hopefully it’s nothing serious [re the injuries], we have to assess it today, or tomorrow and then we can see.” – Erik ten Hag
MARESCA ON NKUNKU
After three one-pointers and 1.2 million transfers out, Christopher Nkunku (£6.2m) almost inevitably popped up with a goal.
On as a 79th-minute substitute for Nicolas Jackson (£7.6m), the Frenchman collected the impressive Jadon Sancho‘s (£6.3m) pass before finishing.
Used as a striker upon his introduction, he’s now played in pretty much every attacking position (right wing, left wing, number 8/10) already this season.
“[Sancho] was very good, I think Joao [Felix] was very good and Christoph scored but was also very good. The reason why Christoph in that moment is because I think we were creating chances but we lacked quality inside the box, so the idea to use him as a number nine was because any ball inside the box we know he is a quality player and he can decide [the match].” – Enzo Maresca
What chance of a Gameweek 5 start for Nkunku, then? Still dubious, in likelihood. Enzo Maresca brought Sancho and Joao Felix (£6.5m) on before the France international, while Jackson has been in good form through the middle. You can’t imagine Nkunku would displace Cole Palmer (£10.6m) at West Ham next week, either.
“At the end of the game, I said to the players Christoph, Cole Palmer, Jadon, Joao, Noni [Madueke], Mischa [Mudryk], Pedro [Neto], they are not going to play all the games. What they have to do is exactly what they did tonight. If I play, I have to give all my best. If I go inside for 10 minutes, I have to give all my best. This will be until the end because they are seven or eight good players and we cannot play with all of them.
“Sometimes they have to be out but the important thing is they are ready when they get minutes. Christoph is doing perfect. He didn’t deserve to stay out, Mischa didn’t deserve but sometimes you have to take decisions. The good thing when they go inside is that they are ready and they give everything.” – Enzo Maresca
SANCHO CATCHES THE EYE
Sancho arguably has a better chance of starting in Gameweek 5. On as a half-time substitute for the underwhelming Pedro Neto (£6.4m), he was bright down his favoured left flank. He worked well with Marc Cucurella (£5.0m), too.
Maresca loves wingers, and Sancho certainly fits the mould.
“I said already when we brought in Jadon that the reason why is because we were looking for another winger like Noni [Madueke]. Noni is doing that on the right side, winning one v one, creating chances, scoring goals and we were looking for the same on our left side with Jadon.
“We already have Mischa [Mudryk] there, Pedro is playing there but it’s good to have both wingers they can give us this kind of option.” – Enzo Maresca
Sancho aside, Chelsea were pretty limp in attack. Cole Palmer (£10.6m) failed to register a single shot or penalty box touch.
Credit to Bournemouth, though, with their wasp-like harrying and aggression. They are a formidable force on home soil especially, failing to let Newcastle settle in Gameweek 2 and repeating the trick on Saturday.
But for the penalty miss, two encounters with the woodwork and Sanchez making some smart stops, their unbeaten record would have continued.
The worry is whether will they be able to replace Solanke’s goals. Evanilson has big boots to fill and needs that first goal to go in: as well as the penalty miss, he was off-target with a couple of other efforts.
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