The Gameweek 13 post-mortem continues with two of Sunday’s matches: Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa and Manchester United 4-0 Everton.
JACKSON + PALMER STRIKE
It was a stroll in the park for Chelsea on Sunday, as they cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
Nicolas Jackson (£8.0m) and Enzo Fernandez (£4.8m) both struck in the first half, before Cole Palmer (£10.9m) added a third late on.
The goal from Palmer, who also supplied an assist to total 14 points, was pure class.
His league record at Stamford Bridge since the start of last season now reads:
- Starts: 20
- Subbed on: 3
- Goals: 22
- Assists: 7
- Bonus: 33
- Points: 208
Jackson also impressed. His goal, a lovely first-time finish off the near post, was his 12th attacking return of the campaign.
Off to a standing ovation on 69 minutes, he’ll be licking his lips at the prospect of facing error-prone Southampton on Wednesday.
As for Enzo, the midfield base of Moises Caicedo (£4.9m), who inverted from right-back when Chelsea had the ball, and Romeo Lavia (£4.5m) allowed him to roam in the final third.
With four shots and five key passes in his last two outings, he’s starting to make his mark under Enzo Maresca.
Asked if there is an emphasis on trying to get him into more attacking positions, the Italian said:
“Exactly. For most times, he was in those positions, inside the box. Usually all the goals happen from inside the box, so we need the two wingers, the No 9 inside the box. We need players inside the box to try and score goals.” – Enzo Maresca on Enzo Fernandez
The clean sheet for Chelsea was slightly soured by an injury to Wesley Fofana (£4.5m). He limped off with an issue and was replaced by Benoit Badiashile (£4.3m).
Maresca later said Fofana has a hamstring injury and will be out for 4-5 weeks.
OUT-OF-FORM VILLA
It was a day to forget for Aston Villa, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) forced off at half-time with an injury.
Villa have now failed to win any of their last eight games in all competitions.
Ezri Konsa (£4.4m), Matty Cash (£4.4m), Lucas Digne (£4.7m) and Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m) all came back into the starting XI at Stamford Bridge, but if anything, Villa’s defensive problems worsened.
Martinez in particular had a rare bad day, with issues playing out from the back.
Looking leggy and short of confidence, Unai Emery’s men have now kept just one clean sheet in 18 league matches. And with Robin Olsen (£4.5m) potentially in goal on Wednesday, Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m) owners should perhaps start to feel a bit more optimistic.
“We don’t know exactly, hopefully it is not a lot. We don’t know.” – Unai Emery on Emiliano Martinez going off injured at half-time
Further forward, it’s equally bleak, with just four goals scored in five league games.
Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) was twice thwarted by Robert Sanchez (£4.7m) on Sunday, but both efforts were tame.
As for Morgan Rogers (£5.3m), he was back in a No 10 role but found it hard to shake Levi Colwill (£4.5m), failing to register a shot, key pass or penalty box touch. Subbed on 65 minutes, a breather is surely in the offing sometime soon.
AMAZING AMAD
Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) and Joshua Zirkzee (£6.6m) both scored twice as Manchester United thrashed Everton 4-0.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) and Amad Diallo (£4.9m) were similarly influential, supplying two assists apiece.
The surprising line-up alteration at Old Trafford saw Zirkzee lead the line, with Fernandes and Rashford deployed as attacking midfielders in behind.
The decision clearly paid off, with United’s four goals giving them a huge boost ahead of Ruben Amorim’s toughest test yet – Arsenal on Wednesday.
They’ll have to travel to north London without Lisandro Martinez (£4.4m) and Kobbie Mainoo (£5.2m), too, after the duo were shown their fifth yellow cards of the season on Sunday.
Elsewhere, there was another eye-catching display from Amad at right wing-back.
The youngster has now supplied four assists in his last three league games, a period which has seen him deliver 25 points.
“He’s a really big talent. Small in size but he did a great job. He also has to improve but I think he’s in a very good moment. Also, I think the three amazing games that Ruud [van Nistelrooy] was in charge of this team helped him a lot, Amad, and Amad is now helping me.” – Ruben Amorim on Amad Diallo
A wing-back classified as a midfielder in FPL is a potential concern. However, it’s worth noting Amad racked up 36 touches in Everton’s half on Sunday, so he is still seeing plenty of the ball in dangerous areas.
Above: Amad’s touches in the opponent’s half per Gameweek, sorted by highest first
Defensively, United delivered their sixth shutout of the season, but there were no clean sheet points for Matthijs de Ligt (£5.0m) and Noussair Mazraoui (£4.7m), who were rested and subbed off before the hour mark.
With the job done, Fernandes was also withdrawn on 65 minutes. Hopefully, the ice pack spotted on his left foot after heading to the bench isn’t anything serious.
EVERTON’S MISFIRING ATTACK
Everton are in a rut, with their lack of goals a major concern.
Beto (£5.0m) was given the nod at Old Trafford, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m) dropping to the bench.
It wasn’t a huge surprise, given that the Toffees have one of the tightest turnarounds in Gameweeks 13-15, playing Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday lunchtime.
Beto produced two shots but lacked quality, skewing an early effort over the bar, before shooting wide when one-on-one with Andre Onana (£5.2m).
It means Everton have failed to find the net in each of their last four matches, with their last goal coming against Fulham in October.
Playing without confidence at both ends of the pitch, it doesn’t get any easier, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all coming up in December.
“Goalscoring has been a problem for four of five years. It has been a big task for this club for a long time. It is an ongoing challenge. It is very unlike us to make that many mistakes. We’ve gone back to mistakes today and we need to push it aside quickly.” – Sean Dyche
