Erling Haaland (£15.4m) blanked for the third successive match in Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Mohamed Salah (£12.6m), in contrast, scored and assisted at Anfield.
The key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Wolves v Man City and Liverpool v Chelsea are covered in this article.
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HAALAND BLANKS AGAIN
It was another frustrating afternoon for Erling Haaland owners on Sunday, as the Norwegian blanked for the third successive match.
Starved of service, Haaland cut a frustrated figure at Molineux, with Wolves’ three centre-halves restricting him to zero shots and just four penalty box touches.
That’s the first time Haaland has failed to register a single attempt on goal in the league for over a year.
It also means none of City’s last seven league goals have been scored by the former Borussia Dortmund man.
“I’d have loved to try to play and move forward and use the transitions, but long balls to the striker are always so difficult to control and then the pace that they have and the physicality with Lemina. They are so strong and they are really strong at crosses with Bueno, Dawson and Toti, so three players on Haaland.
“We were patient and making runs and crosses, we have a lot of chances, but we don’t have the tallest team to attack crosses. That’s why I have the opinion that it’s an excellent performance.” – Pep Guardiola
It is a good job Pep Guardiola could count on his defenders for goals.
After another slow start, Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) pulled City level with a superb strike from outside the box. He made the most touches and created the most chances of any player at Molineux.
John Stones (£5.3m) later scored the winner from a corner.
“We have been trying super hard to improve our set pieces and make the most of them. Today was a new focus and attitude towards them. Hopefully this is the start of many more. It is a vital part of the game at both ends of the pitch and really pleasing for me personally to get the winner after such a difficult game.” – John Stones
The goal was created by Phil Foden (£9.2m), who surprisingly started Gameweek 8 on the bench.
Instead, Guardiola opted to play Savinho (£6.5m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.3m) on the flanks, presumably in an attempt to stretch Wolves’ deep back five.
On Kevin De Bruyne (9.4m) and Kyle Walker (£5.3m), both of whom missed Sunday’s trip, the Spaniard is not expecting either to be back for City’s UEFA Champions League clash against Sparta Prague on Wednesday.
“I don’t think they will be ready [for midweek]. We have few days training but don’t think so.” – Pep Guardiola on Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne’s fitness
WOLVES OPTIMISM
Wolves have made a really poor start to the season, having collected just one point from their opening eight games.
However, compared to the 5-3 capitulation at Brentford in Gameweek 7, this was a much better defensive display, which coincided with Gary O’Neil’s decision to switch to a back five.
They even took an early lead thanks to Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.5m), who produced a calm finish to register his fourth attacking return of the season.
“The lads stuck to the plans really well. When you compare that to the Brentford game they are miles apart. We have enough quality, we know the Premier League is tough so we have to find a way. We showed that against the best side in the world and came up 20 seconds short. But if we can replicate that we will be fine. After this tough run we will show our qualities.” – Gary O’Neil
Looking ahead, Wolves are about to embark on a great run of fixtures (see below), with their appeal largely dependent on where you stand on the form v fixtures debate.
Sam Johnstone (£4.4m) missed out with a minor abductor issue on Sunday, meanwhile.
JOTA INJURY LATEST/SALAH HAULS
Diogo Jota (£7.4m) was forced off with an issue on Sunday, leaving the pitch on 29 minutes.
Arne Slot has since said he is waiting to discover the extent of the injury but doesn’t expect to have the Portuguese available for Wednesday’s trip to RB Leipzig.
“Diogo had to be substituted and I am not sure what it is, but I’d be surprised if he is there on Wednesday. I have a lot of confidence in this team, but you also saw today – after the international break – that we have some problems.
“Conor Bradley is not in; Trent [Alexander-Arnold], you probably don’t know, was also not training in the first days after he came back, so he was a bit of a doubt before we started the game. [And] then we had Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] being sick.” – Arne Slot
Slot left out Luis Diaz (£8.0m) after playing in South America but the Reds got the job done regardless, triumphing 2-1.
Mohamed Salah (£12.6m), who is now FPL’s highest points scorer, put Liverpool ahead with a first-half penalty before the impressive Curtis Jones (£5.3m) grabbed the winner.
“Curtis had a very good game. He had a difficult job to control Cole Palmer, who is an incredible player with so many qualities. Curtis controlled him for most parts of the game and he had big impact at the other end with the goal and the two penalties, one of which was disallowed by the VAR.” – Arne Slot on Curtis Jones
As for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.1m), he defended well but his forward forays were limited. In fact, he touched the ball just seven times in the final-third, with zero shots and zero key passes.
Sunday’s three points marks the start of a testing period of matches for Liverpool, with Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa up next domestically.
It does at least give them a solid platform to kick on, however.
MARESCA: “THE PERFORMANCE WAS GOOD”
Chelsea are clearly a work in progress under Enzo Maresca, but they played well in spells at Anfield, dominating possession with 57% of the ball.
From an attacking perspective, Cole Palmer (£10.8m) was relatively quiet by his usual high standards, with Liverpool and Jones limiting the space inside.
He did, however, rack up four shots.
Nicolas Jackson (£7.9m) also did well for his assured finish, a chance he probably would have fluffed this time last year.
“I think the performance was very good. I just said, we don’t like losing games, dropping points but if you have to decide the way, then this is probably the way. I’ve been in the stadium many times and have seen Liverpool for a long time, it’s not easy. I think overall, we controlled the game and for most parts of the game we dominated the game, but we lost. We are not happy. We don’t like (it) but as I said, the performance on and off the ball was very good.” – Enzo Maresca
Defensively, Reece James (£4.9m) made his first appearance of the season following injury, featuring for 52 minutes before being taken off with Romeo Lavia (£4.5m).
The Blues still look a bit shaky at the back though, with Robert Sanchez (£4.7m) often erratic in goal.
“For Reece and Romeo, it was 45 minutes to an hour maximum but I was a bit afraid to give them more minutes so I decided to change them after 50 to 55 minutes.” – Enzo Maresca on Reece James and Romeo Lavia
