FPL notes: Welbeck injury latest, Son given assist + Johnson praise

Danny Welbeck (£5.8m) moved to second in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) forwards’ points table on Saturday – but there are now fears he may be sidelined through injury.

Meanwhile, in north London, Son Heung-min (£9.8m) – controversially – registered a third double-digit haul of the season.

Newcastle United 0-1 Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 West Ham United are where we begin our Gameweek 8 Scout Notes.

WELBECK INJURY: EVERYTHING HURZELER SAID

Welbeck had put Brighton ahead against the run of play on Tyneside, scoring with Albion’s first shot of the game. The match was 35 minutes old at that point.

The 33-year-old striker is, arguably, in the form of his long career. Saturday’s strike was his fifth goal in eight starts; his best season tally in the last 10 years is six! Reaching 50 points for 2024/25 with maximum bonus, he’s now ahead of Ollie Watkins (£9.1m) and Kai Havertz (£8.3m).

Brighton will likely know in the next few days whether he will be stuck on his half-century for a while. Welbeck caught a knee to his back in the 75th minute at St James’ Park, needing lengthy treatment before being carted off on a stretcher. He required the ‘green whistle’, too, to ease his pain.

Fabian Hurzeler, understandably, couldn’t offer us much in the way of a prognosis after full-time.

“Hopefully it’s not that bad but we can’t be sure about that.” – Fabian Hurzeler, quoted in the Argus

“No, I can’t give any updates yet about him. We have to wait. He will get a scan… then hopefully it’s not that bad.” – Fabian Hurzeler to Sky Sports

“I saw it, I think did he get a knee in his lower back? But let’s wait for tomorrow, for later, then we know more.” – Fabian Hurzeler, speaking to the BBC

The most encouraging update came from the Brighton social media account.

Dat guy’s a bit bruised and battered, but the good news is our match winner at St James’ Park, @DannyWelbeck, is on our @British_Airways flight home. pic.twitter.com/k8ZGJFGvCf
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) October 19, 2024

Hurzeler next faces the media on Thursday or Friday, so we should get a more helpful update then.

Yankuna Minteh (£5.4m) meanwhile missed the win against his former employers with a minor injury.

It was all change on the flanks as Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m) was benched. That was likely influenced by his 178 minutes for Japan.

Minteh ruled out by a slight (injury) issue, back from international duty with Gambia. #NEWBHA
— Andy Naylor (@AndyNaylorBHAFC) October 19, 2024

BRIGHTON DIG IN, NEWCASTLE WASTEFUL

As mentioned above, the Seagulls’ win was a bit smash and grab – especially based on the first half.

Newcastle dominated but, as was the case in Gameweek 7, couldn’t find that killer touch. Ironically, they’ve probably put in their two best displays of the season against Everton and Brighton, but they have one point and no goals to show for it.

Karma, perhaps, after they fluked their way to a four-match unbeaten run at the start of 2024/25.

Alexander Isak (£8.3m) returned from injury but, maybe a little rusty, couldn’t score with any of his seven shots. One of those was a huge one-on-one chance, with Anthony Gordon (£7.3m) spurning two golden opportunities of his own (see below). These two scored a combined 32 league goals last season; their radars are a little wonky in this campaign with just one non-penalty goal apiece.

“We’re going through a phase where we’re not scoring, but the positive is we’re creating chances. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, it’s back to hard work on the training pitch.” – Eddie Howe

“I have to be honest. In the first half we had a bit of luck. They had a big chance with Isak, they had a shot from Gordon. In the end, for me, it is important that we defended together.” – Fabian Hurzeler

Newcastle still look like they can be got at from the flanks. Tino Livramento (£4.5m) may have reached the England squad but, whisper it quietly, he hasn’t actually been that good this season. The Magpies looked a bit more solid with Kieran Trippier (£5.7m) back but now that the veteran is out for “weeks”, Livramento will be starting. Outmuscled by Welbeck for the winner and wobbly in the second half, he’s about to face two sides who are very strong out wide: Chelsea and Arsenal.

Brighton have a juicy fixture against Wolves next but an absence for the influential Welbeck will be a blow. Evan Ferguson (£5.5m) – who started alongside the veteran striker here and looked a little out of practise, albeit starved of service – may have to lead the line.

Georginio Rutter (£5.5m) is getting better by the game, though. Used on the right here, he’s now delivered four returns in three starts. He may now be more central with/without Ferguson, too, if Welbeck is out. Joao who?

SON GETS THE ASSIST… EVENTUALLY

Son’s first game back from injury looked to have finished with a decent eight-point return, thanks to a goal and one bonus point.

He should have scored a second moments later, hitting the inside of the post with much of the goal to aim at.

But eight points suddenly became 12 later in the day. Son had belatedly been credited with the assist for Alphonse Areola‘s (£4.5m) own-goal, which also gave him an extra bonus point.

A mix up at the back for West Ham and Tottenham have a two-goal cushion in the blink of an eye
@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/pelvQupiFO
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 19, 2024

The confusion all began when Areola, not Jean-Clair Todibo (£4.4m), was credited with the own-goal. Had it been the latter, the Fantasy assist would have been less contested: shot, save, own-goal from the rebound.

With Opta deciding to award Areola the goal, the waters were murkier. In the end, FPL used the following reasoning for the assist – before mysteriously deleting the social media post.

As things stand, Son retains the assist.

WHY ANGE SUBBED MADDISON

A second-half blitz from Spurs did the damage, not that the hosts were poor in the first half.

Ange Postecoglou surprisingly opted to bring James Maddison (£7.5m) off at the break, despite the playmaker claiming the assist for Dejan Kulusevski‘s (£6.2m) leveller. It turned out to be tactical, not enforced.

“I just felt West Ham ask you certain questions in midfield areas and I just felt Pape’s running power would help us in the second half. They obviously worked hard in the first half and I thought he could give us some real energy. I thought he did really well and he gave us a platform to really threatening every time we went forward and clinical in our football.” – Ange Postecoglou on James Maddison’s withdrawal

Kulusevski has overshadowed Maddison recently. The Swede, reborn in a central role, was excellent again on Saturday. It was significant that Maddison was the one hooked at the interval, not him.

It’s two goals in three for Kulusevski – and his boss wants more.

“In that final third, I still think we can get more goals out of him, more assists but he is constantly in those threatening areas and he’s been outstanding for us all year. Today he had to show some other facets of the game, some defensive work as well which I thought he did well but I thought the whole team did well.” – Ange Postecoglou on Dejan Kulusevski

ANGE PRAISES JOHNSON

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