Rattling through the Gameweek 18 Scout Notes, we turn our attention to Southampton 0-1 West Ham United and Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace.
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FABIANSKI INJURY LATEST
Lukasz Fabianski (£4.1m) looks set to miss Gameweek 19 after suffering a head injury on Boxing Day.
The West Ham United goalkeeper required seven minutes of medical treatment in the first half, eventually being stretchered off while receiving oxygen. It looked initially like he was out for the count.
While Fabianski was conscious in the dressing room, avoided the need for hospital treatment and even took his place in the dugout in the closing stages, his substitution was of the ‘concussion’ variety – and the protocols dictate a period out of action. Six days is the minimum but 12 is also possible, so he could miss Gameweek 20 too.
“We had a problem with Lukasz, with Max Kilman. Fortunately Lukasz is conscious, he’s well. We are happy because it looks like it is not important.
“It’s too early to tell [if they are going to be fit for Gameweek 19]. We are talking about three days so I am not very optimistic about this but let’s see.” – Julen Lopetegui
As Julen Lopetegui mentioned above, West Ham also lost Max Kilman (£4.4m) to a shoulder injury. Carlos Soler (£5.0m) came off at half-time with a knee issue, while Tomas Soucek (£4.9m) and Guido Rodriguez (£4.8m) will both be suspended in Gameweek 19 due to yellow card accumulation.
Good news for owners of Liverpool players in FPL, then, ahead of the trip to east London.
Even with the regulars, the Hammers weren’t overly convincing. Soler smacked the crossbar with a sitter but other than that chance and Jarrod Bowen‘s (£7.5m) predatory goal, there weren’t too many clear openings. Southampton, indeed, registered more shots (18 v 16) and big chances (4 v 2) over the game.
Bowen, operating from the right as Niclas Fullkrug (£6.7m) led the line, had an eye-catching six attempts.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.6m) also impressed. A fourth attacking return in seven Gameweeks should have arrived when Soler missed that aforementioned opportunity. Benefitting from Lopetegui’s policy of pushing his full-backs high, Wan-Bissaka was directly involved in five West Ham chances: two shots, three created.
ONUACHU PROFLIGATE BUT DANGEROUS
One of the cheapest forwards in FPL had the most shots (eight) on Boxing Day.
Paul Onauchu (£4.9m) led the line for Saints, providing the focal point that the strugglers have missed all season.
Ivan Juric is prepared to go longer than the tippy-tappy Russell Martin was, too, which will surely boost Onuachu’s game-time prospects.
He’s £4.9m for a reason, of course. The jury is out on his finishing, despite the scoring exploits abroad.
There were seven headers in all, four of them good chances. Fabianski produced a good save to keep out one of them, with a couple of others dropping narrowly wide. It was all a bit Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Fine margins and a name to monitor going forward, for those FPL managers going 3-5-2.
“Onuachu scored goals in Belgium every year, 20 goals. In Turkey, it’s the same thing. It’s not the same thing playing in Turkey and Belgium compared to England.
“But it’s not one year that he scored 20 goals. I believe that he can do it. What I saw in these training sessions, he has his own characteristics.
“Long ball, keep the ball, the head is strong. It’s normal that he’s not the fastest player in the world, but in some games, I think he can do it well.
“In other games, maybe it’s better to play with Archer or with another one [up front].” – Ivan Juric on Paul Onuachu, via the Daily Echo
Southampton looked decent in Juric’s first match in charge. The Croatian operated with a wing-back system, with Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.3m) matching Wan-Bissaka’s stats (two shots, three chances created) in a positive showing.
KLUIVERT SUSPENDED, WHY EVANILSON WAS BENCHED
Bournemouth have been excellent this season. Ranking in the top six for both expected goals (xG) and expected goals conceded (xGC), they fully merit their sixth-place position in the Premier League.
If there is a criticism, it’s that they’re sometimes too wasteful. No club has underachieved more on the xG front in 2024/25:
There were 18 unconverted chances against Palace, with Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) – yet again – and Dango Ouattara (£5.0m) registering five each. Semenyo flashed a good headed chance wide late on, having earlier had a shot cleared off the line.
Evanilson (£6.0m) had to make do with a couple of late opportunities, having been benched.
“A little bit of everything because I was seeing Enes contributing very well in the moments that he has played lately. Also we have to consider now that we play in two days and a half against Fulham away, a very difficult game also.
“We are quite thin now, we have 15 fit players, so we don’t want to lose anyone more.” – Andoni Iraola on whether Evanilson’s benching was tactical or a rest
The Cherries will miss Justin Kluivert (£5.5m) in Gameweek 19 after he picked up his fifth booking of the season. Marc Guehi (£4.5m) did the same for Palace.
MUNOZ RETURNS
This was more of a rearguard effort from a resurgent Palace, who have lost only two of their last 10 league matches and kept three clean sheets along the way.
A Bournemouth backline led by the impressive Dean Huijsen (£4.3m), who scooped maximum bonus, largely kept the visitors at bay.
Daniel Munoz (£4.7m), not for the first time, had Palace’s best chance, producing a tame shot from a good position. He remains the leading FPL defender for xG this season.
Back from a ban and in the starting XI here, he’ll no doubt attract plenty of interest for the following upcoming run:
Eberechi Eze (£6.6m) returned from injury, meanwhile. We’ve not really seen the best of him this season, with this being another match that he flitted in and out of. He at least finished with team-best totals of four shots and two chances created.
