The key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Manchester United v Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa are covered in this article – including injury concerns for Cole Palmer (£11.0m) and Morgan Rogers (£5.4m).
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PALMER CONCERN?
Cole Palmer will undergo further assessment after suffering a late injury against Manchester United.
Lisandro Martinez’s (£4.4m) studs made contact with the Chelsea star’s knee but after a VAR check, the referee was advised not to review the incident.
Palmer was able to walk off the pitch at full-time, however, with Enzo Maresca hopeful “… it is nothing important”.
“Cole was in the changing room with ice so we are waiting now. Hopefully it is nothing important.
“I know I will be asked about the referee’s decision and I think it’s quite clear for almost all of us, but the referee is there to make the decision and he took a different decision.
“I told him at the end of the game that if you don’t go for the ball and you just go for the player it is a red. When there’s no intention to go for the ball and you go for the player’s legs, for me there’s no doubt for the decision. I think it’s quite clear that it was a red.” – Enzo Maresca
Notably hurt, Palmer does at least have a week to recover for Sunday’s clash against Arsenal, due to the attacker not being included in Chelsea’s Conference League squad.
On the pitch, Palmer failed to return but still collected a bonus point thanks to some decent underlying stats – he won four fouls, completed two successful dribbles and created a big chance for Noni Madueke (£6.5m), boosting his Bonus Points System (BPS) score in the process.
Madueke hit the post from that aforementioned chance, but overall, both attacks struggled.
Instead, the likes of Reece James (£4.9m) – who sat very deep at Old Trafford, Romeo Lavia (£4.5m) and Moises Caicedo (£4.9m) impressed most, with the latter scoring a brilliant volley.
As for Nicolas Jackson (£7.9m), he was left feeding off scraps and was booked for the fourth time this season, leaving him on the cusp of a one-match ban.
FERNANDES GOAL
Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) registered his first goal of the season on Sunday, scoring from the penalty spot on 70 minutes.
Another ‘big chance’ followed in stoppage time, with his four shots and four key passes resulting in a match-high 1.42 expected goal involvement (xGI) figure.
“Everyone knows how much I wanted the goal to come. I need to help the team with goals and assists. It’s been one of the most disappointing things this season – but I got some in the cup. Now I’m scoring in the Premier League.” – Bruno Fernandes
Elsewhere, Alejandro Garnacho (£6.3m) got into some decent scoring positions but was wasteful, with most of his shots under-hit.
Tactically, Ruud van Nistelrooy only made minor tweaks, with just one enforced change from Erik ten Hag’s final match: Manuel Ugarte (£4.9m) in for Christian Eriksen (£5.4m).
Above: Man Utd’s average position map v Chelsea in Gameweek 10
Van Nistelrooy will again be in charge in Gameweek 11, so expect a similar set-up v Leicester City, before the arrival of Ruben Amorim during the international break.
“I think today what you saw, against a very good Chelsea side we competed very good. I think we had the better chances, I felt slightly disappointed we didn’t take the three points. This is the way forward for this group of players and I saw some great performances today, I saw some excellent performances. I have to say from the back, Lisandro and Matthijs did a great job. I think Nous Mazraoui had an excellent game and Casemiro is doing a great job. Bruno took the responsibility; he was involved in all the attacks. I don’t think anyone really missed out today.” – Ruud van Nistelrooy
WHY SON WAS SUBBED OFF/SOLANKE BRACE
Son Heung-min (£9.9m) supplied the assist for Brennan Johnson’s (£6.7m) equaliser on Sunday, with a lovely teasing cross from the left flank.
He was surprisingly taken off a few minutes later, however, with Richarlison (£6.8m) sent on in his place.
Ange Postecoglou explained why in his post-match presser:
“He was never going to play more than that today because, obviously he had an injury, came back and last time it was around the 60-minute mark where he kind of got fatigued. So he was never going to play more than sort of 55/60 minutes irrespective of how the game was going.
“The great thing was that he made a pretty important contribution, before that, the great ball in for our first goal and we got our equaliser. So, you know, again, we’ve got more battles ahead and we’re going to need him. So he was never going to play more than that.” – Ange Postecoglou on Son Heung-min
After Son’s departure, Dominic Solanke (£7.6m) – the second-most sold forward in Gameweek 10 – scored twice.
Substitute James Maddison (£7.6m) later added a fourth with a wonderful free-kick in stoppage time, also won by Solanke.
The former Bournemouth striker had not registered a shot on target in his previous three league games but certainly stepped up on Sunday, delivering a 16-point haul for his 11.4% ownership.
Above: Solanke’s shots per Gameweek, sorted by highest first
“I just think the enormous effort he put in on Wednesday night to help us win a game of football, not just physically but mentally and his capacity to help the team in every way he can. To back that up today with such a massive effort again against a pretty difficult team to play against in that sense, it’s just unbelievable. Yeah, the goals are great and of course as a striker I am sure he loves the fact he can score a couple of goals, but even if he didn’t, again I can’t speak highly enough of what he is contributing to our team at the moment. And long may it continue because with him playing that way, it just makes us a better team.” – Ange Postecoglou on Dominic Solanke
ROGERS, ROMERO + RICHARLISON INJURIES
Morgan Rogers had given Aston Villa the lead on Sunday, profiting after Spurs failed to deal with a corner.
He’s now scored in three successive away matches but was replaced on 68 minutes after picking up a knock. He wanted to continue, however, and will now be checked over by the medical team.
Matty Cash (£4.4m) was also forced off with a calf problem.
“I think Morgan will be okay because he wanted to carry on. I decided to play some minutes with two strikers. Cash felt something in his calf. Hopefully not a lot [of time out].” – Unai Emery
Aston Villa are next in action at Club Brugge on Wednesday, before heading to Liverpool in Gameweek 11.
As for Spurs, they too have injury concerns.
Cristian Romero (£5.1m) and Richarlison both had to be replaced on Sunday.
With Micky van de Ven (£4.6m) also out, Ben Davies (£4.3m) had to partner Radu Dragusin (£4.3m) for the final half an hour against Aston Villa.
“I don’t know too much at the moment. Richy in that action setting up the goal felt something in his hamstring, which is disappointing for him. Cuti, in the challenge, he’s a tough cookie so for him to come off, he’s very sore, but we’ll have to wait and see. Look, it’s part of what every team is going through, and we just have to deal with it.
“Radu has played left centre-back, right centre-back, Ben Davies has had to come in at different times and Destiny midweek and the boys are handling it really well. As I said it’s not ideal but, hopefully both are not too serious.” – Ange Postecoglou
