We pick out the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) notes and talking points from Thursday’s cup action.
As well as Chelsea concluding their Europa Conference League group phase, there was a League Cup quarter-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
| OPPONENT | RESULT | GOALS | ASSISTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man United | Tottenham (a) | 4-3 defeat | Zirkzee, Amad, Evans | Fernandes, Amad |
| Tottenham | Man United (h) | 4-3 win | Solanke (x2), Son, Kulusevski | Porro, Spence |
| Chelsea | Shamrock Rovers (h) | 5-1 win | Guiu (x3), Dewsbury-Hall, Cucurella | Nkunku (x2), Madueke |
TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION
| STARTING XI CHANGES FROM GW16 | PLAYERS WHO KEPT THEIR PLACE (MINS) | OTHER MINS FOR SELECTED PLAYERS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man United | 5 | Dalot (90), Mazraoui (90), Martinez (90), Fernandes (77), Ugarte (70), Hojlund (56) | Bayindir (90), Yoro (90), Amad (35), Zirkzee (34), Garnacho (20) |
| Tottenham | 2 | Solanke (90), Kulusevski (90), Son (90), Dragusin (90), Gray (90), Forster (90), Spence (90), Sarr (90), Maddison (79) | Porro (90), Johnson (1) |
| Chelsea | 9 | Cucurella (90), Madueke (45) | Jorgensen (90), Nkunku (90), Dewsbury-Hall (82) |
NKUNKU TO START ANOTHER PREMIER LEAGUE GAME SOON?
Enzo Maresca has such a bloated squad at his disposal that he has the luxury of being able to play two teams – one in the Premier League and one in Europe. The Blues also have so many promising youngsters coming through that can come into contention for Europa Conference League action.
Last night was the usual mix of second-string and youth team up-and-comers, which made for an interesting watch but provided limited Fantasy intel.
Marc Guiu (£4.7m) looked very sharp with a first-half hat-trick. His first two goals were gifted by terrible defensive mistakes by Shamrock Rovers but the 18-year-old nonetheless had the sharpness to pounce and the clinical skill to put them away. His glancing header from a Noni Madueke (£6.3m) cross was also well executed.
Christopher Nkunku (£5.8m) played from the start here and was a lively presence, assisting twice. Nevertheless, he will be frustrated not to have added to his five goals so far in the competition. There are rumours that the Frenchman wants away in January, possibly to Manchester United.
“I completely want Christo to stay with us. I don’t have any idea to let him leave in January. Christo’s best position is between the lines as a No 10 but Cole [Palmer] is playing there.
“Joao Felix played a Premier League game the other day against Leicester and Christopher, for sure, is going to play Premier League games. But we have many players, we try to share minutes with all of them. The intention, the target is to keep all of them happy, even knowing that sometimes it’s not possible.” – Enzo Maresca on Chrisopher Nkunku
If nothing else, Maresca’s comments confirm what we already knew: Nicolas Jackson’s (£8.2m) status as a nailed-on starter for Chelsea isn’t assured.
The upcoming period, in which the Blues play Sunday-Thursday-Monday, may see Nkunku get that promised league start – just as he did in Gameweek 14.
CUCURELLA’S GOAL THREAT
Meanwhile, the other points of interest were the appearances of first-teamers Marc Cucurella (£5.2m) and Madueke. The Spaniard’s inclusion wasn’t a huge surprise as he is suspended for Gameweek 17. Whether Maresca was punishing him for his daft dismissal by playing him in this dead rubber, or just using him to inject some experience into a very inexperienced side, is uncertain.
Either way, Cucurella responded well, inverting into midfield from left-back and playing Nkunku in during the build-up to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s (£5.5m) strike. Furthermore, he himself got on the scoresheet to produce back-to-back goals for the first time in his career.
“The only thing I can say is that sometimes it’s more about understanding the position and understanding the game and Marc is doing very well. In the last two games he scored two goals but in the previous game when he was playing like an attacking midfielder, or like a winger against Leicester, he always did very well.” – Enzo Maresca on Marc Cucurella’s new-found goalscoring touch
MADUEKE AT RISK
The appearance of Madueke in the side was more surprising. The England international played against Brentford and was unlucky not to score. He was a bright spark against Shamrock too, sending over a series of fantastic crosses and almost scoring himself early on. His assist for Guiu’s hat-trick goal was right on the money too. But why was he playing?
It could be Maresca trying to keep the winger on his toes, having recently criticised him for often resting on his laurels.
“Noni can do much more. He can do much more. The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit and the reason why he was not playing is because I do not like the way he trained.” – Enzo Maresca on Noni Madueke on 4 December
There has to be a high risk that Madueke will be rested for the trip to Everton because Pedro Neto (£6.2m) and Jadon Sancho (£6.2m) were spared in Europe.
One Conference League regular not in action was Mykhailo Mudryk (£6.2m). The Ukrainian has failed a drug test and Chelsea are now waiting for the result of his B sample. Another positive result could potentially bring a ban of up to four years.
FREE-WHEELING SPURS
After Ange Postecoglou announced that he always wins things in his second season, he is now striving to make good on that pledge by going all-in for the cups. A strong line-up was selected for the visit of Man United, with only two players – the injured Destiny Udogie (£4.9m) and Lucas Bergvall (£4.4m) – missing from the team which trounced Southampton on Sunday.
Spurs started incredibly well by racing into a three-goal lead, aided by some suspect goalkeeping by Altay Bayindir (£4.3m), poor defending and good finishing by both Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) and Dejan Kuklusevski (£6.3m).
“I like the whole game. Are you not entertained? I know the studio is probably having a meltdown over my lack of tactics. We’ve got so many absences at the moment, centre halves, kids on the bench. If we get through the period we’re going to get enormous growth out of it.” – Ange Postecoglou on Spurs’ injury crisis
“I really liked how we played tonight, obviously those moments tainted it a bit and that has happened this season before and it doesn’t help our consistency, but the mentality of the boys… I love it. I love football and love watching teams that go out there to entertain. Obviously we want to be successful and we won’t be if we make things difficult like we did tonight.
“We’re not going out there to try and grind out 1-0 victories, we’re trying to keep folks entertained. I can’t see how that’s a bad thing.” – Ange Postecoglou on Spurs’ attacking play
UN-FORSTER-RORS
But are Spurs ever truly in control? Shortly after Fraser Forster (£4.3m) had made a superb save from Joshua Zirkzee (£6.6m), he presented a festive gift to Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m), who set up a Zirkzee goal. The generous stopper then handed out another present, this time allowing Amad Diallo (£5.2m) to close him down and make the match interesting.
“We made it harder than it should have been, we were well in control, played really well, we looked like we were going to manage the game and then two unfortunate moments. The first one affected Fraser and then the second one came as a result of that. But we showed character and scored a fourth.” – Ange Postecoglou on Fraser Forster’s mistakes
Son Heung-min (£9.8m) then produced a party piece at the end, scoring an olimpico – when a corner goes straight into the goal – as Bayindir flapped at thin air. That seemed to seal things until Jonny Evans (£4.4m), who replaced the again injured Victor Lindelof (£4.3m), netted from a corner to make it 4-3.
In their last four matches, Tottenham Hotspur have also had a 5-0 win and 4-3 defeat. Bizarrely enough, it still ranks as the Premier League’s third-best for goals conceded (19) but their expected goals conceded (xGC) tells another story – at 24.28, it’s the eighth-worst.
Though it should be said that injuries are a mitigating factor. Here, they had Udogie, Mickey van de Ven (£4.5m) and Cristian Romero (£5.0m) missing, while Rodrigo Bentancur’s (£4.9m) suspension continues to weaken their defensive shield.
SPENCE IMPRESSES AGAIN – PORRO STILL AT RISK
After recent league benchings, there is a question over whether the attack-minded Pedro Porro (£5.6m), producer of the most crosses from all defenders, is worth the risk.
The man who replaced him in Gameweek 16, Djed Spence (£4.2m), was excellent again here, albeit this time on the left.
It will probably be that there’s a three-way jobshare for two full-back spots over Christmas, with Porro benched in one of the next three.
“Brilliant, fantastic again. Like I said last week, he’s had to bide his time. Probably deserved to play a little bit more but the situation we were in at the early part of the year, Archie [Gray] was playing more as a cover for left-back and right-back and [Spence] wasn’t registered for Europe, so it limited his opportunities.
“But he kept working hard in training. It’s not like he’s come in and filled a spot for us, he’s actually making an impact. He played a great ball into Dom [Solanke] for his goal but defensively he did an enormous job for us. Physically, he’s outstanding. Really pleased for him because it’s not easy when you’re training and training and you want to contribute but don’t get that opportunity.
“It’s two games. Always put context into this. For him now, it’s about pushing on and challenging the guys who are there. At some point, we will have a squad and I will have some selection issues. Not at the moment but it’s great for us that, again, we’ve got a player who has come in in a difficult time for us and not just come in and filled gaps but actually made us a better team I think.” – Ange Postecoglou on Djed Spence
KULUSEVSKI APPEAL
However, Spurs’ attacking assets will still be of interest. Kulusevski has scored in his last four matches in all competitions, Son has three in four and James Maddison (£7.5m) – now back in favour with Postecoglou – remains their highest FPL points scorer.
Solanke teases owners with these performances but then produces meagre returns even when his side win 5-0. Then again, six attacking returns throughout six Gameweeks is respectable.
An individual who seems to be falling in appeal is Brennan Johnson (£6.6m). He only came on for the final seconds, after starting just three of the last five league matches. While always a goal threat in cameos due to Spurs’ gung-ho approach, Kulusevski appears to be more of a sure thing.
BARGAIN AMAD
From a Man United perspective, their own attacking assets remain worthy of consideration. The pairing of Fernandes and Amad continues to deliver and the team looked transformed when last week’s derby day hero came on.
His goal came from a sheer determination to close down Forster. He injects energy, pace, skill and directness into their attack, with the finishing quality to deliver an end product. At this generous £5.2m price, Amad is an absolute bargain.
On the other hand, Man United’s other assets are largely forgettable. Antony (£5.7m) went missing again, Marcus Rashford (£6.8m) was dropped from the squad for the second consecutive match and Zirkzee was only marginally better than the below-par Rasmus Hojlund (£6.9m).
“We were not the best team in all of the game but in most of the parts I think we were the best team. We disconnected for eight minutes and it was hard to recover from that but the lads did a great job to recover. We were so near the draw but the fourth goal was really hard for us.” – Ruben Amorim
Andre Onana (£5.2m) will remain Amorim’s number one, as back-up Bayindir has not pulled up any trees. But until the Cameroon international replaces mistakes with clean sheets, his appeal is limited.
“We will see the game [back] and we [want to] improve every player of this team. We win together, we lose together. You already know, guys: it’s not the individual, it’s the team. We could [still] win this game, even with all the goals in this game, so let’s focus on that.” – Ruben Amorim on Man Utd’s defensive errors
