The hubbub caused by the Assistant Manager chip announcement played havoc with our schedule on Wednesday.

It’s a bit later than usual, then, that we bring you the Scout Notes from Liverpool and Aston Villa’s midweek games.

The two sides enjoyed two more excellent results in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night to strengthen their hopes of avoiding an extra European play-off match.

The Reds made it six wins on the spin as Mohamed Salah’s penalty secured a 1-0 win at Girona. Villa edged out RB Leipzig in a five-goal thriller in Germany to move third in the giant Champions League table, five points behind leaders Liverpool.

We pick out the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from both fixtures in these Scout Notes.

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION

ALLISON WONDER HANDS

Liverpool did just enough to see off Girona but they required the excellence of the returning Alisson (£5.4m) to keep them in the match. In an open game in Spain the Brazilian, who has missed the previous seven Gameweeks with a hamstring injury, showed his enduring class, making five saves in total, one more than Paulo Gazzaniga at the other end.

“He showed again today why I said so many times that he’s our first goalkeeper. That has nothing to do with Caoimhin [Kelleher] – he did so, so well. But Alisson has been so important for this club for so many years, for his country as well. [He] showed today that he’s probably one of the best, in my opinion the best goalkeeper in the world. And let’s hope he can keep continuing to bring these performances. Let’s hope even more that he can stay fit.” – Arne Slot on Alisson

DARWIN DISAPPOINTING

The Reds might have scored more from their 15 shots but for the profligacy of Darwin Nunez (£7.1m), who passed up two of the four big chances his team created. 

The Uruguayan was similarly wasteful against Newcastle in Gameweek 14 yet Arne Slot has persisted with him, handing him starts in five of the last six Gameweeks, seemingly trying to play him into form. 

But the 26-year-old has now scored only once in10 club appearances in all competitions, and one wonders how many more opportunities he will get, especially with Dioga Jota (£7.2m) on the road to recovery and Cody Gakpo (£7.1m), who played an 18-minute cameo, straining at the leash

“What I can agree on is that he missed a few chances. Then it’s always a question, ‘Does this have anything to do with low confidence or is this a situation where he’s in at the moment?’ I think every striker all around the world has periods when you try so hard but you’re not able to score. 

“The good thing is that we have many players who can score for us, and Mo did again. I would have loved to see Darwin score, because every striker wants and needs to score goals. That is why I kept him on for quite a long time. He was a threat but, unfortunately, he couldn’t score.” – Arne Slot on Darwin

As ever the man who could score was Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) who proved the difference from the penalty spot, burying the chance awarded for a foul on Luis Diaz (£7.4m) – one of five shots taken by the Egyptian.

DEFENSIVE WOBBLES

Elsewhere, Joe Gomez (£4.9m) had a header saved to highlight his threat as a budget defender in the absence of the injured Ibrahima Konate (£5.2m), while Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) was lively throughout, forcing two saves (one from a free-kick) and threatening from corners.

Liverpool were set up in a 4-3-3 as usual, with Alexander-Arnold inverting and essentially playing in right midfield, but every time an attack broke down they looked vulnerable to the counter-attack, hence Girona’s high shot count (13).

Of some concern to Slot will be the number of chances his side gave up. At times they looked very open – as they were when shipping three goals to Newcastle last time out. It is something to keep an eye out for from an FPL point of view, as they may struggle for clean sheets going forward. Then the question becomes, is the attacking threat of Alexander Arnold or Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) worth the outlay?

“Alisson made a lot of saves, but I think if you make highlights of this game we will all see a few chances that we had as well, which is normal. What is not normal is that we concede so many chances.”

“Every time we lost the ball we were not aggressive enough, so every time we lost the ball they could almost every time go all the way to our goal, having a shot or a blocked shot, and then we could attack again. Hardly any control at all over the game.” – Slot on defensive concerns

Villa deliver another thriller

It was another rollercoaster ride for Aston Villa fans on Tuesday night as their side twice took the lead before Ross Barkley (£5.2m) settled the match late on with a deflected goal. John McGinn (£5.2m) had given his side an early lead but the goal of the night came from half-time substitute Jhon Duran (£5.8m), who unleashed an audacious dipping 30-yarder five minutes after coming on to further press claims for his inclusion from the start.

Duran had been in the starting XI against Southampton on GW15 and repaid Unai Emery with the only goal of that game. And the Colombian was at it again in Leipzig, crashing in his 10^th goal in all competitions this season – and another worldie from outside the box.

DURAN VS WATKINS

The reason Duran came on at half-time was to replace Ollie Watkins (£9.0m), who was holding his thigh towards the end of the first half. Emery said afterwards the injury was ‘small’ but whether he risks the England striker at Nottingham Forest in GW16 remains to be seen. 

It will be hard not to select Duran on current form. The 20-year-old had four shots in his 45-minute cameo against Leipzig, more than any other Villa player, and had an xG of 0.25. Watkins, by comparison, had only one shot, at an xG of 0.26. 

Watkins has seven Premier League goals and three assists this season, which is a strong return; only two forwards have more than his 10 attacking returns, and only Erling Haaland (£15.1m) has attempted more shots. But Watkins has underperformed his xG this season by 3.61 xG, while Duran has five goals for 4.2 xG.

You get the feeling Duran’s time is coming, and that Watkins’ minutes will be more restricted. Having not had a proper pre-season he has picked up a few niggles and has been substituted 10 times already this campaign. 

Duran, meanwhile is an explosive force of nature who seems to pull a rabbit out of the hat every time he plays. He has scored six goals after coming on as a substitute in all competitions – the most by any player for clubs in Europe’s big-five leagues. He also scored another goal last night only for it to be disallowed by VAR.

“Sometimes he is very impassioned and we have to try and keep balance with him. But today he played fantastic. He scored one goal, scored a second goal that was offside. He worked, and we are trying to get the team strong with a tactical approach.

“His potential is massive. Tactically he is improving and today he played a fantastic 45 minutes.” – Unai Emery on Jhon Duran

CASH INTEREST

Emery made an interesting tactical tweak last night. With Leon Bailey (£6.2m) out injured the Villa manager opted to play Matty Cash (£4.4m) on the right wing, to capitalise on his crossing ability, and the move paid dividends as early as the fifth minute when he picked out Watkins with a pinpoint cross the forward headed into McGinn’s path for the opener. 

Looking at the pass map, Cash was the most advanced player in the Villa side, and he had three shots on goal and had an xG of 0.19. At his price point Cash could be a very interesting budget defender, Villa’s two Premier League clean sheets notwithstanding.

“After the injury to Bailey and Philogene is a process, I decided to use Cash playing as a full-back defending low but attacking high and wide. He has the potential to do it. He played the beginning of his career like a winger and today he worked fantastic.” – Unai Emery on Matty Cash

ROGERS ROLLS ON

Elsewhere it was a disappointing evening for Emi Martinez (£5.0m), who was arguably at fault for both Leipzig’s goals when failing to come out for long passes.

Morgan Rogers (£5.4m) continues to remind fans of his attacking threat, and excellent value, with three attempts on goal at an xG of 0.3.

In truth, Villa were quite fortunate to earn three points from this match as they were slightly outscored by Leipzig on xG by 1.92 to 1.78. But that is what can happen when you have a generational talent like Duran in your team who can score from absolutely anywhere.

On a more general note, Villa now have 13 points in the big Champions League table, making them virtual certainties to qualify in the top 24. Another win should ensure they finish in the top eight, thereby avoiding an extra play-off match. Emery has earned himself the option of resting a few players in Europe and refocusing minds on Villa’s Premier League campaign.

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