The games at Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City are the focus of our latest Gameweek 16 Scout Notes. Crystal Palace ended Fabian Hurzeler’s unbeaten home run in the Premier League, while Amad Diallo (£5.2m) inspired Manchester United to a 2-1 comeback derby win.
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WELBECK ABSENCE EXPLAINED
Brighton’s top scorer, Danny Welbeck (£5.8m), was expected to start against Palace on Sunday but wasn’t part of Fabian Hurzeler’s squad.
The veteran striker had previously missed Gameweek 14 after suffering a ‘small issue’ at Southampton.
However, he featured as a substitute at Leicester City last week, so his absence was a surprise.
Hurzeler made just one change to the team which drew at Leicester, with Yankuba Minteh (£5.1m) coming in for Evan Ferguson (£5.5m).
After switching to a back three formation after the break, Albion were dominant but lacked a ruthless streak, with Joao Pedro (£5.9m) anonymous for large periods.
Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m) looked the most likely source of a goal and substitute Julio Enciso (£5.4m) made a difference upon his introduction, but it proved to be another disappointing day for Hurzeler’s troops, who are now without a win in four league games.
MUNOZ BAN
Daniel Munoz (£4.7m), who has scored in two of his past four Premier League appearances, picked up his fifth booking of the season at the Amex.
He’ll miss Gameweek 17 as a result, but interest is likely to increase after thanks to a favourable run of opponents.
Munoz had the ball in the net on Sunday but the goal was correctly ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
He also forced an excellent save from Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m).
SARR “MORE CONFIDENT”
It was Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) who grabbed the headlines, however.
The midfielder scored twice and assisted Palace’s opener, earning him 17 points and his second double-digit haul in five games.
Furthermore, Sarr topped the charts in a number of attacking metrics, including shots (five), shots in the box (five) and big chances (two).
“We know that they play with a high line, defending man-to-man. Ismaila’s strength is his pace, and then we knew we could get him there. The first one was a great header from him, so when we get him into these running duels he’s always able to score goals. He’s more confident than at the beginning of the season, he feels better. He understands better and better how we want to play as a team, what he has to do – also with Dani Munoz, because there was one disallowed goal where he would assist and Dani the goal – this is getting better and better, so we are really pleased for him.” – Oliver Glasner on Ismaila Sarr
Eberechi Eze (£6.6m) wasn’t far away from scoring either, but his header went just wide of the post.
Palace are now unbeaten in their last five Premier League games, with performances starting to improve ahead of a busy festive period, which includes a Carabao Cup quarter-final at Arsenal on Wednesday.
Eze and Jean-Phillipe Mateta (£7.2m) were both hooked just before the hour mark on Sunday, with that tie perhaps in the back of Glasner’s mind.
AMAD’S ADVANCED ROLE
Amad scored a superb late winner in the Manchester derby, shortly after claiming the assist for Bruno Fernandes’ (£8.4m) penalty equaliser.
Pushed into a more advanced role in the absence of Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£6.2m), the youngster looked sharp throughout, registering four shots, three shots in the box and 10 penalty box touches.
Playing with freedom and fearlessness, Amad has delivered six attacking returns in five league games under Ruben Amorim, more than any other player at the club.
“He is very humble and that is very important. Let’s continue but we have to be careful. In our club, we put our kids too soon in the special place. Let’s calm Amad down and all the team continue the job. I said already, his work with Erik [ten Hag] and Ruud [van Nistelrooy], bring him doing a great job and he continues that job. He can play both positions and, in this kind of game, his ability to run with the ball is really important. But all the players fit in my system. If they want, they are very talented players in our squad who can fit in this system.” – Ruben Amorim on Amad Diallo
MOUNT/MAZRAOUI LATEST
Elsewhere, Mason Mount (£6.3m) was forced off in the first half through injury, with Fernandes pushed forward as a result.
Prior to that, the playmaker had been deployed next to Manuel Ugarte (£4.9m) in a deeper midfield role.
Noussair Mazraoui (£4.7m), who operated as a right wing-back on Sunday, is another fitness concern. He was spotted leaving the Etihad Stadium with what looked to be a limp, having played for 78 minutes.
Amorim didn’t say much in his post-match interview but did acknowledge the problem.
“It’s more the problem with Mason and Nous. You think right away, you go in the tunnel and think right away because we have a lot of games, you know.” – Ruben Amorim
CITY STUNNED/GVARDIOL GOAL
The same issues surfaced for Man City again on Sunday, after collapsing in the final minutes of the Manchester derby.
Josko Gvardiol (£6.1m) had previously headed the Cityzens in front from a deflected Kevin De Bruyne (£9.5m) cross.
He’s now scored four league goals this season and eight in 2024, the most of any FPL defender.
They still ended up losing, however, with Pep Guardiola shell-shocked at the final whistle.
City remain fifth, with just one win in 11 games in all competitions, a quite incredible record for the four-time champions.
“I’m not good enough. I am the boss, the manager, I have to find solutions and so far, I haven’t. That’s the reality. We want to play better, create chances. But at the moment it’s not possible.” – Pep Guardiola
As for Erling Haaland (£14.9m), he got very little service, with the impressive Harry Maguire (£4.9m) limiting his threat. In the end, the Norwegian ended the match with just one shot and two penalty box touches.
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