Aston Villa came from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 on Saturday, with Morgan Rogers (£5.2m) producing his first attacking returns of the season.
We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from this match in our Scout Notes article.
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ROGERS FINALLY DELIVERS
Morgan Rogers has been one of Aston Villa’s standout performers this season, thriving in a No 10 role.
Up until Saturday, attacking returns had somehow eluded him, but he finally came alive in the second half against Wolves, serving up two assists and 10 points for his 16.4% ownership.
Rogers didn’t actually have a shot in Gameweek 5, but by creating two big chances, he’s now up to four for the season – only Dwight McNeil (£5.4m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) have more.
After a poor first half, Rogers and Villa really stepped up.
First, Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) equalised, scoring his third goal of the season, before Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) put the hosts ahead, converting Youri Tielemans’ (£5.5m) deep cross.
The home win was rounded off in injury time when Jhon Duran (£6.0m) tapped home.
Unai Emery’s in-form side have now won four of their opening five Premier League games, with a trip to Ipswich Town up next.
DURAN STRIKES AGAIN
Jhon Duran inevitably caused problems for Wolves upon his introduction just after the hour mark.
After his late strike, he’s now scored four goals in five Premier League games this season, all of them as a substitute. That’s despite being on the pitch for just 162 minutes.
The Colombian may be finding it hard to displace Watkins in Villa’s starting XI, but he’s quickly becoming Emery’s super-sub.
“Good impact again. We will need all the players in the matches we play in the next few weeks.” – Unai Emery on Jhon Duran
Duran’s impact off the bench was, of course, the highlight, but others impressed too, highlighting the new-found depth at Emery’s disposal.
Ian Maatsen (£4.9m) and Leon Bailey (£6.4m) both came on at the start of the second half, dominating their respective flanks.
Ross Barkley (£5.3m) was excellent, too, adding control in the middle of the park.
Elsewhere, Diego Carlos (£4.5m) started in place of Lamare Bogarde (£4.0m), with Konsa subsequently shifting to right-back.
“It was the worst first half I’ve played with Aston Villa here. I didn’t watch one match like the first half we played; it was very, very poor. We lost possession, we weren’t pressing them, we weren’t organised and we were very passive.
“It was strange. Maybe we lost a little bit of the energy we had and we needed the second half to change our spirit, and we did it. We did it using some fresh players to add their qualities.” – Unai Emery
The squad will no doubt be needed in the coming weeks, particularly with John McGinn (5.4m) set to be unavailable due to a hamstring injury.
The Scotland international limped off just before half-time on Saturday and could potentially miss Gameweeks 6 and 7.
“It is a hamstring injury. When we arrived here, he had a hamstring injury against Tottenham in January and today I think it is less than that injury. But he will be not available, I think, for a few weeks.” – Unai Emery on John McGinn
MOSQUERA INJURY
Gary O’Neil lost Yerson Mosquera (£4.0m) to injury at Villa Park on Saturday.
The defender was stretchered off in the second half and is set to undergo a scan amid fears of a serious knee injury.
“There’s no real info, but it doesn’t look good at this moment. It was obviously a big blow for us in the game, firstly, and it would be a big blow for us to lose him for a significant amount of time in an area of the pitch that we’re already short in.
“He was performing at a very high level for us in that area. It’s not one we can afford to lose. Hopefully it’s not as bad as is feared, but it’s not looking good at this moment.” – Gary O’Neil on Yerson Mosquera
Wolves had been the better side in the first half and took the lead through Matheus Cunha (£6.5m), after he capitalised on Carlos’ sloppy pass.
However, they folded after the break.
It doesn’t get any easier either, with Liverpool and Manchester City in the next three Gameweeks.
Looking further ahead, the fixtures do at least improve, but not until Gameweek 9, perhaps 10:
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