FPL notes: Jesus hat-trick, Brentford injuries + Jota cameo

As if we weren’t busy enough in the build-up to Christmas, the scheduling gods come along and throw a spanner in the works in the form of the League Cup quarter-finals. Our Scout Notes round-up covers Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace, Newcastle United 3-1 Brentford and Southampton 1-2 Liverpool.

• READ MORE: ­FPL Gameweek 17 team news: Thursday’s injury updates

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION

JESUS RESURRECTED

Gabriel Jesus (£6.7m) was the match-winning hero for Arsenal with an excellently taken hat-trick, the first a lovely dink over Dean Henderson (£4.4m), the second and third precise drilled finishes.

The Brazilian threatened a return to form in the recent Champions League win over Monaco and was brilliant against Crystal Palace, showing sharpness of movement and the sort of skill that Arsenal need when confronted by teams playing in a low block.  

He could start to feature more prominently now to give the overworked Kai Havertz (£7.9m) a breather and opposition defences a different problem to ponder.

“So pleased for him, it’s been a long period for him without goals and today to score three goals, the three type of goals he scored tonight as well and many actions he was involved, he looked really sharp. I think it’s a great thing for him, great thing for the team that we can rely on a player with such a quality, same with Kieran [Tierney], same with all the players who haven’t started many games and had the chance to do so.

“He brings something, he has that quality, he has a way of creating, generating situations that is quite unique, Gabby at that level obviously is a big asset. It’s now about consistency, so now obviously this is a moment of a spark that will give him so much confidence not only to him but to the team as well, now we can rely on him to change those games and now we need to take it, and give him more games, give him chances because when a player is in that moment it’s important to continue to do that.

“It’s good that we have players that are knocking on the door and telling the team I deserve to be there, it’s a good problem to have.” – Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Jesus’ prospects

Elsewhere, there were rare run-outs for Raheem Sterling (£6.7m) and Kieran Tierney (£4.3m), the former coming close with a free-kick that Henderson tipped away from the top corner and then being denied again before hitting the bar with the rebound.

However, what really changed the game was the second-half substitutes. Martin Odegaard (£8.4m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.6m) showed their quality by producing the creativity to break Palace’s resistance. They provided three assists between them.

“They are two of our best players but we rely on the team, we rely on a lot of individuals like any other team to perform, to change games, to help us to impact the team, certainly coming from the bench to have that impact they have, it’s really good to see.” – Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka’s impact

EZE AND MATETA PROTECTED

While Arsenal’s substitutions changed their fortunes for the better the opposite is perhaps true of Crystal Palace’s. Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.2m), who has scored seven goals for his club this season in all competitions, and two in the last four matches, came off on the hour, along with Palace’s most creative threat Ebereche Eze (£6.6m).

But you can understand Oliver Glasner’s desire to protect his players, 10 of whom started in the 3-1 win over Brighton in Gameweek 16, especially as Eze was sidelined for a month after picking up an injury against Aston Villa in the last round.

“I know it’s not too easy because they moved the ball quite quickly, but this is what we have to improve on Saturday [when Palace host Arsenal], and then it’s possible [to win]. The positive thing is that scoring two here is not too easy. Not many teams score two at the Emirates – this is good. But the whole team performance we will try, and I know all the players, will try to improve, to get the win at home.” – Oliver Glasner

TONALI MASTERCLASS

After smashing Leicester City 4-0 in Gameweek 16, Newcastle were excellent again in dispatching Brentford at St James’ Park. This victory came courtesy of a virtuoso performance from Sandro Tonali (£5.5m) who has had a frustrating re-integration into Eddie Howe’s side since returning from his illegal betting ban.

Tonali took this game by the scruff of the neck and crowned an imperious display of sublime passing, athleticism, silky touches and fierce tackles, with his first two goals for the club. The first was a first-time hit from the edge of the area, the second a volley from Anthony Gordon’s (£7.2m) corner. The Italian is thriving in a deeper midfield role, however, which suggests more goals will not necessarily be on their way any time soon.

“We are starting to see the best of him [Tonali]. The tweak in position has definitely helped him, he is a lot more comfortable when he is deeper on the pitch. He is showing all the qualities that we knew when we signed him. It is just about finding the right balance for him and the team.”

“The midfield wins and loses you games, it goes without saying that it is such an important area of the pitch. It was good to see him [Tonali], Bruno [Guimaraes], Joelinton and Joe Willock all playing well today.” – Eddie Howe on Sandro Tonali’s positional tweak

There might also have been goals for Gordon and Joe Willock (£4.8m) in the first half, while Jacob Murphy (£4.9m) and Harvey Barnes (£6.2m) both hit the post as Newcastle ran Brentford ragged. Fabian Schar (£5.4m) scored a third from close range after Bruno Guimaraes (£6.1m)  had teed him up following a Lewis Hall (£4.6m) shot that was saved.

BRENTFORD DEFENDERS INJURED

Brentford did manage a late Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) goal, courtesy of an assist by Bryan Mbeumo (£7.2m), who came off the bench to deliver again, but they weren’t at the races here. It’s hard to fathom why they are such a Jekyll and Hyde team when home or away, but their cause wasn’t helped by two defensive injuries.

Sepp van den Berg (£4.1m) pulled out after injuring himself in the warm-up and was replaced by Kevin Schade (£5.1m), while Ethan Pinnock (£4.5m) came off after only 14 minutes.

This does not bode well for the visit of Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Brentford have an incredible home record but you sense Chris Wood (£6.6m) owners will be rubbing their hands at this setback for the Bees.

“Sepp has got a minor groin injury. It will likely be too quick for Saturday but we will see over the next 36 hours.

“Ethan, we don’t know the full picture, but when it is a hamstring injury we are probably looking at a longer one.” – Thomas Frank

ELLIOTT’S CENTRAL ROLE/JOTA CAMEO

There was all-out rotation for Liverpool at Southampton and Arne Slot’s gamble just about paid off with a narrow win. The Dutchman packed his squad with youngsters, including 16-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha, and gave starts to homegrown midfielders Treymaurice Nyoni (£4.5m) and Tyler Morton (£4.4m), while Mohamed Salah (£13.4m), Virgil van Dijk (6.5m) and Luis Diaz (£7.4m) stayed at home with their feet up ahead of their trip to Spurs in Gameweek 17.

This match could have gone either way – both sides had four shots on target – but Diogo Jota (£7.2m) got a 23-minute cameo off the bench, and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m), Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.1m) all started. The latter produced a confidence-boosting goal when sent through by a deflected Alexander-Arnold through ball, and Harvey Elliott (£5.2m) also found the net, after moving from the flank to his preferred centre-midfield position.

“Harvey already had a good impact in the game at the weekend against Fulham, so it was good to see he is able to play 90 for him today and even score a goal. Started him off on the right, I felt he almost got a bit bored and didn’t touch the ball a lot, so after 15-20 minutes we changed his [position] and were playing him in the midfield. We know he is a better midfielder than he is a winger, but we had to do it like this. So that was pleasing to see.” – Arne Slot on Harvey Elliott

Southampton, who pulled a goal back through Cameron Archer (£5.0m), squandered two big chances to force a shootout, while Jarrell Quansah (£3.9m) benefited from the absence of VAR in this round of the competition when he appeared to foul Manuel Fernandes (£5.0m) late on. As the old adage goes, fortune favours the league leaders.

There was also a cameo from the bench for the lesser-spotted Federico Chiesa (£6.8). He passed up a presentable chance to score late on too.

“I don’t know if we saw it the same, but I think what I saw is what you can expect. If a player is out for five or six months you cannot expect [too much]. I saw ups and downs. I saw some really good moments and I saw some moments where I felt like, ‘OK, you can do better than this.’ For me, that’s completely normal if a player has been out for so long and plays his first game in five or six months.” – Arne Slot on Federico Chiesa

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