Finishing off the weekend Scout Notes, we’re bringing you up to speed on what happened in the matches at Old Trafford and Portman Road.
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JOHNSON + GREAVES INJURY LATEST
Three of the seven most-owned FPL defenders priced at £4.1m or less are on Ipswich Town’s books – and they’re all now injured.
We’ve known about Axel Tuanzebe‘s (£4.0m) freak thumb injury for some time. We didn’t get a heads-up on issues affecting Jacob Greaves (£4.1m) and Ben Johnson (£4.0m), however.
Kieran McKenna mentioned neither player in his pre-match presser but both missed out on Saturday. “Weeks” is the early estimate from the Ipswich boss.
“[Greaves] had an injury after the West Ham game, so he is going to be out for a few weeks at least. Jacob’s [injury is] his hamstring.
“Ben Johnson got an injury very late in the training week this week. So, we’re still assessing that one but it’s probably going to be a couple of weeks as well.”
– Kieran McKenna
Dara O’Shea (£4.0m) moved to right-back, so Cameron Burgess (£3.9m) and Luke Woolfenden (£4.0m) made up an all-new centre-half pairing. Burgess is the joint-cheapest player in FPL.
All of the upheaval isn’t helping at the back, with Saturday’s performance an error-strewn one. More than ever Leif Davis (£4.5m) will probably have to fall back on attacking returns – and even in that department, he’s being left frustrated. Another three chances created went unconverted against Everton.
Above: Defenders sorted by chances created (CC) in the last six matches. Big chances created (BCC) are also shown.
After the initial post-promotion buzz, the sobering reality may be setting in at Portman Road. Successive defeats to fellow strugglers, albeit more established top-flight clubs, have been deserved.
Even if we take the opening clashes with Liverpool and Manchester City out of the equation, Ipswich rank 19th for xG over the last six matches. Liam Delap (£5.5m) has worked wonders to score on four occasions from his own xG of 1.59.
Here, the Tractor Boys didn’t really create much of quality after Jack Clarke‘s (£5.5m) fifth-minute sitter.
DEJA VU WITH EVERTON’S DEFENCE?
Last season, Everton lulled many FPL managers into selling their defensive assets after failing to keep a clean sheet in the opening seven Gameweeks. They subsequently kept 13 of them in their remaining 31 fixtures.
Are we seeing parallels this time around? After the opening-season struggles of 2024/25, it’s now two clean sheets on the run. This shut-out was more assured than Gameweek 7’s, when Newcastle United were wasteful.
Even the much-maligned Michael Keane (£4.1m) and Ashley Young (£4.5m) have impressed in recent weeks. The budget-friendly Keane here lashed in his second goal of the season for a 14-point haul.
Be warned, though, prospective Keane owners: Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.8m) will be back very soon.
“Jarrad’s close to being fit and possibly could have played but I feel he needs another week’s training, as well, to make that his body is right.
“I made a bit of a call on that, to be fair to him. He was chomping at the bit but the last game we put him in I felt maybe was a bit quick. He was fine for the game and did very well but got injured the next week so I thought, he’s only literally trained on Thursday and Friday, we have got to be careful here.
“So we left it so he could do work at the training ground and then continue to have a full week’s training next week and then hopefully his body is more ready for when he is needed.”
– Sean Dyche
If things are looking up at the back, they’re not exactly going swimmingly for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m). Another two one-on-one chances were spurned on Saturday (see below, click to expand).
The fixtures remain excellent for Everton – but patience is wearing thin for a striker whose shot-to-goal conversion rate since 2022/23 is a dire 8.9%.
Reborn as a number 10, Dwight McNeil (£5.7m) is now sixth among midfielders for FPL points. Saturday’s assist made it six returns in eight starts.
The eye-catching Iliman Ndiaye (£5.4m), who on paper should pose less of a threat than Calvert-Lewin due to being farmed out to the left flank, scored with his first shot since Gameweek 5. If only DCL was as lethal…
FIT-AGAIN WISSA RETURNS
It’s a sign of how far Brentford have come, and how far Manchester United have fallen, that Saturday seemed like an opportunity missed by the Bees.
Thomas Frank’s side couldn’t take advantage of Manchester United’s vulnerabilities and injuries, failing to lay much of a glove on their hosts.
Even Ethan Pinnock‘s (£4.5m) opener arrived when United were temporarily down to 10 men, thanks to Matthijs de Ligt’s (£5.0m) bloodied head.
Six of Brentford’s eight shots were from the edge of the box or further back. Andre Onana‘s (£5.0m) only save came from a 30-yard curler.
Easier tests await, at least – and now Brentford have Yoane Wissa (£5.9m) back fit. Kevin Schade (£5.3m) and Fabio Carvalho (£4.8m) haven’t really been adequate replacements for the DR Congo international, who has recovered from injury much quicker than expected.
A budget forward to consider for the next five Gameweeks, perhaps.
The west Londoners are now just one of three teams without a Premier League clean sheet. Mark Flekken (£4.5m) has also made more saves than any other goalkeeper. Not the tightest of backlines, then, with Sepp van den Berg (£4.0m) again looking uncomfortable at right-back.
“He played there the last three games, four games, so I think he’s done well.” – Thomas Frank when asked about Sepp van den Berg at right-back
TEN HAG’S BACON SAVED AGAIN?
A master at pulling out a result just when his job seems on the line, Erik ten Hag oversaw an excellent second-half performance as United bagged their first win since Gameweek 4.
As the ‘xG race’ graphic above shows, the hosts really pulled away at the interval. United had 11 second-half efforts before Brentford even had one, and that only arrived in the 85th minute.
Alejandro Garnacho (£6.2m) was, as he often is, the liveliest threat, racking up eight shots – one of which was his volleyed equaliser. Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) impressed, too, while Rasmus Hojlund (£6.9m), as he did in 2023/24 when being utterly starved of service, made the most of what little came his way by scoring the winner. That was his only shot in the box. Even Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) avoided a blank with his assist for Hojlund’s goal. He was otherwise unremarkable.
Diogo Dalot (£5.1m) also caught the eye with his forward runs, if not his defending. Back at right-back with Lisandro Martinez (£4.5m) on the opposite flank, Dalot was allowed to advance thanks to some diligent work from Rashford. The full-back got clean through to test Flekken on one occasion, almost repeating the trick later.
We’ve had so many false dawns with United that it’s not worth getting too carried away by one good half. They may well get a result at West Ham as the division’s resident flat-track bullies but you would not be surprised in the least if Chelsea beat them in Gameweek 10 and bring about the latest crisis in the north-west.
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