We kick off our Scout Notes from Sunday with some key takeaways from Manchester United 3-0 Leicester City and Spurs 1-2 Ipswich Town.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 11: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Alexander-Arnold injury + Salah’s upcoming rest
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Keane benched, £4.0m Fabianski delivers + Ait-Nouri ‘OOP’
IN-FORM FERNANDES
Ruud van Nistelrooy concluded his spell as Manchester United’s interim manager with a 3-0 win over Leicester City.
In a clinical display, Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) was the star of the show.
The Portuguese put United in front with a curling finish, before his header took a deflection off Viktor Kristiansen (£4.5m) and found its way into the net.
He later supplied the assist for Alejandro Garnacho’s (£6.4m) stunner, resulting in a huge 17-point haul for his 10.3% ownership.
There are still questions about how Fernandes will fit into Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation, if he reprises his Sporting Lisbon system that is, but his impact under van Nistelrooy has been immense.
In his two league matches under the Dutchman, Fernandes has racked up six shots, 11 key passes and 1.76 expected goal involvement (xGI), the most by any midfielder in that period.
Above: Players sorted by expected goal involvement (xGI) in Gameweeks 10 and 11
Amad Diallo (£4.9m), who started at the expense of Garnacho on the wing, picked up from where he left off in Europe, combining well with Fernandes for the opener.
There was another clean sheet, too, United’s fifth of the season so far.
It coincided with Manuel Ugarte’s (£4.9m) best performance in a United shirt. His central midfield partnership with Casemiro (£4.8m) has blossomed under van Nistelrooy, restoring some balance to a team that was previously so open.
There was disappointment for Diogo Dalot (£5.2m) owners, however.
He had a tough time up against Abdul Fatawu (£5.3m) and was hooked on 56 minutes, with his positioning particularly poor in the first half.
United return to action following the international break away at Ipswich Town, a game which will be new head coach Amorim’s first in charge.
VARDY INJURY LATEST/BUONANOTTE BAN
Jamie Vardy (£5.7m) missed his first Premier League game of the season at Old Trafford.
The veteran forward has a back problem which now requires further assessment.
“Jamie is a bit inconclusive. He picked up a nasty knock to his back last week and didn’t manage to shake it off, even though we were a week away.
“We’ll have to see how that goes. We’re still trying to work out what that is.” – Steve Cooper on Jamie Vardy
Steve Cooper also revealed that Ricardo Pereira (£4.2m) has been ruled out for four months with a hamstring injury.
Without Vardy, Leicester City failed to score in a Premier League match for the first time this season.
The Foxes had enough possession but failed to create clear-cut opportunities, with No 10 Wilfred Ndidi (£5.0m) providing the visitors’ best moment.
As for Facundo Buonanotte (£5.0m), he supplied three key passes but earned himself a one-match ban with his fifth booking of the season.
INCONSISTENT SPURS
Tottenham Hotspur’s inconsistent season continued on Sunday, as they fell to a shock 2-1 home defeat to Ipswich Town.
Ponderous and one-dimensional for the most part, Spurs huffed and puffed but ultimately fell short.
Dominic Solanke (£7.7m) had a goal ruled out for handball by VAR, before Rodrigo Bentancur (£5.0m) pulled it back to 2-1 with a wonderful header from Pedro Porro’s (£5.5m) corner.
However, despite chasing the game, there was only one further chance of note as Arijanet Muric (£4.4m) denied Solanke late on, his fourth attempt of the match.
The forward seemed to pick up an injury in the first half but carried on, with Ange Postecoglou hopeful no significant damage has been done.
“Dom jarred his knee, it was pretty sore but he wanted to continue. Hopefully, it is nothing serious.” – Ange Postecoglou on Dominic Solanke
Elsewhere, Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) and Son Heung-min (£9.9m) tried to make things happen but underwhelmed, while Brennan Johnson (£6.8m) missed a decent chance from close range early on.
Above: Tottenham’s shot map in Gameweek 11, including Brennan Johnson’s close-range miss
It was a surprise, then, that James Maddison (£7.6m) took so long to appear, only stepping off the bench on 84 minutes.
“It’s just down to me. I’m not getting consistent performances from the players. It’s something I need to address. I’m the person in charge so that’s usually the way it goes. I take responsibility. We can’t give ourselves those kinds of mountains to climb.” – Ange Postecoglou
Defensively, Porro claimed an assist and four points, but Tottenham’s only clean sheet in 21 top-flight home games came in August’s 4-0 win against Everton, a real concern for his 27.6% ownership.
Owners of Spurs assets now face a decision, with a tough run of fixtures on the horizon.
DELAP ON TARGET
Ipswich Town’s long wait for a Premier League win is finally over, as Liam Delap (£5.6m) inspired the Tractor Boys to three points in north London.
The former Manchester City striker scored and assisted, bringing his season tally to six goals and one assist in 10 starts and one sub appearance.
In fact, Delap is now joint-seventh in the Premier League top goalscorers list.
His six goals have arrived from just 17 shots – so only three forwards (Yoane Wissa, Chris Wood and Joao Pedro) have a better conversion rate than Delap (35.3%) in the competition this season.
Above: Forwards sorted by goal conversion rate in 2024/25
Sam Szmodics (£5.8m) had previously put Ipswich ahead with an overhead kick.
Elsewhere, Omari Hutchinson (£5.2m) was lively, revelling in the space provided to him on the break, while Cameron Burgess (£3.9m) nodded Leif Davis’ (£4.5m) corner off the woodwork.
There was an out-of-position run-out for Ben Johnson (£4.0m) on the wing too, with Axel Tuanzebe (£4.0m) lining up on the right side of defence.
