We complete our Gameweek 13 Scout Notes with some key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) takeaways from Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Fulham and Liverpool 2-0 Manchester City, including the latest on Dominic Solanke (£7.6m).
SOLANKE BACK FOR BOURNEMOUTH?
Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke missed Sunday’s London derby due to illness.
The 27-year-old did in fact arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but was subsequently sent home by manager Ange Postecoglou after feeling unwell.
Tottenham are hopeful Solanke will be fit for Gameweek 14, however.
“I hope so. He trained yesterday but he came in today and didn’t look well at all so we sent him home. It’s obviously an illness not an injury so we need to see how it settles down in the next couple of days but hopefully it’s nothing too significant.” – Ange Postecoglou on Dominic Solanke
Solanke’s absence proved to be a blow, with the north London club held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham.
Son Heung-min (£9.9m) started centrally instead, flanked by Brennan Johnson (£6.7m) and Timo Werner (£6.2m).
The latter two combined for the opener, with Johnson slotting home past Bernd Leno (£5.0m). He’s now scored six goals in his past nine league games.
James Maddison (£7.6m) hit the woodwork from a free-kick, but with Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) rested and only appearing as a second-half sub, creativity was a major issue.
Even after Tom Cairney’s (£4.8m) red card on 82 minutes, Spurs couldn’t find a way.
In better news, Cristian Romero (£5.0m) and Micky van de Ven (£4.6m) hopefully aren’t too far away.
“Potentially mate. He [Romero] still hasn’t trained with the team, so he’s getting closer but he still hasn’t trained with the team. So, him and Micky [van de Ven] are still working with sport science staff. So, hopefully, not too far away.” – Ange Postecoglou
As for Fulham, they were the better team in north London and really should have been two goals up in the first half.
Raul Jimenez (£5.7m) fluffed his lines twice, however, showing signs of a striker who has now gone five league games without a goal.
Alex Iwobi (£5.6m) slammed a shot onto the crossbar, too.
Meanwhile, Andreas Pereira (£5.1m) was left out of Fulham’s matchday squad, with Marco Silva mysteriously claiming it was a “technical decision”.
SALAH’S RECORD-BREAKING START
Liverpool ramped up the pressure on Pep Guardiola and Manchester City on Sunday, with a comfortable 2-0 win at Anfield.
By the time Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) scored on 12 minutes, the Reds could easily have been two or three goals up.
Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) supplied the assist for Gakpo’s opener, before his penalty wrapped up the win in the second half.
With yet another double-digit haul secured, his ninth in 13 games, it’s now officially the Egyptian’s best-ever start to an FPL season.
He’s already up to 133 points, surpassing his previous best of 131 points after 13 Gameweeks in 2021/22.
KONATE INJURY LATEST/SLOT ON ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
Elsewhere, Ibrahima Konate (£5.3m) and Conor Bradley (£4.7m) have both been ruled out for a few weeks by Arne Slot.
In his post-match presser, the Dutch tactician also discussed Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s (£6.9m) impact.
The England international was superb at Anfield, registering six crosses and two key passes before he was taken off on 73 minutes.
“Today I only had five defenders available. They [Konate and Bradley] will both be out for a few weeks and I have said many times before, it is always difficult to judge how many weeks this exactly is because you can think in the beginning, ‘Oh, probably going to be like this,’ and the end stage of an injury process can always differ a bit. But they will not be in the team this week for sure, both of them.
“Actually, I don’t think Kostas [Tsimikas] will be with us in the upcoming week as well. These players that we have available now, it is important for them now, even more than normal, for them to stay fit. And that is why I took Trent [Alexander-Arnold] off after 70 minutes. He was able to play longer, he played a very good game, defended really well again and was a major threat in attack. I think he was the one that played the ball towards Mo that led to the 1-0.
“But, knowing that we play Newcastle [on] Wednesday and Saturday the Merseyside derby with only five available, we have to take care of them. That’s why it was so pleasing to see the ones that came in – Joe [Gomez] and Jarell [Quansah] – did so well, even with Jarell in an unfamiliar position for him.” – Arne Slot
CITY STILL VULNERABLE
With Liverpool launching wave after wave of attack, the champions were under severe pressure in the first half.
They improved after the break, but even then, failed to create clear-cut opportunities.
Phil Foden (£9.1m) and Erling Haaland (£15.0m) barely got a kick, with the latter’s two shots carrying an expected goals (xG) value of just 0.19.
In terms of Pep Guardiola’s team selection, the Spaniard chose to bench Ederson (£5.5m) and Josko Gvardiol (£6.2m).
Rico Lewis (£4.7m) and Matheus Nunes (£4.9m) took up the wide midfield roles, with the likes of Jeremy Doku (£6.3m) and Savinho (6.5m) left on the bench.
Explaining his decision, Guardiola said:
“I know some people don’t like the line-ups but we cannot compete against Liverpool and many, many other clubs that are transitional teams. I love wingers but we wanted more control because we know when they lose it they immediately contact with Salah or Luiz or Gakpo.
“They are so fast, quicker, stronger than us in that position in a game. Congratulate Liverpool. I am always positive. I know how difficult the situation is right now in terms of results but the team gave everything and I see how Ruben [Dias] came back from injury and Nathan [Ake] as well, how well Nathan controlled Salah in the duels.
“But our threat is not clear, we feel that we still don’t have the threat that we have always had as a team. And defensively we are not solid enough right now – not today but for a few games so we have to recover to be solid behind. Kevin [De Bruyne] had the chance when the result was 0-1, maybe it should not have been 0-1 but we accept the reality of what it is and recover and then Nottingham Forest.” – Pep Guardiola
Next up for City is Nottingham Forest (h) and Crystal Palace (a), before the Manchester derby at the Etihad in Gameweek 16.
“I want the team back. I want the players back. Three or four players came back [from injury] and the feeling from here is we started to build something. From here we’re going to try to build, win games and regain our confidence. Then we are a team and it’s fantastic. I’m sitting here defending what we defend because these players give everything. The best years I lived in Manchester, and I have to find a solution to try to win games. If we gave up at Anfield and are not consistent, you go home with a terrible result. The team was there all the time.” – Pep Guardiola
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