Liverpool and West Ham United each lost a man to injury during Liverpool’s 5-0 away day rout, with Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) and Joe Gomez (£4.9m) the casualties as Arne Slot’s crew ran rampant in the capital.
Back on Merseyside, meanwhile, Everton’s recent defensive solidity proved no match for the force that is Nottingham Forest at present, as the visitors leapt (temporarily, at least) up to second in the Premier League thanks to an away win of their own.
Read on for our assessment of West Ham United 0-5 Liverpool and Everton 0-2 Nottingham Forest.
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BOWEN AND GOMEZ INJURY LATEST
Their captain limping off the pitch at 0-4 down is a sight no West Ham fan will have wanted, but it’s what they saw when Bowen succumbed to an ankle injury early in the second half following a challenge by Alexis Mac Allister (£6.2m).
There was little in the way of a post-match update from Julen Lopetegui on the extent of the issue, with the Hammers boss simply saying: “I do not know exactly. We will have to assess him and we will know in the coming days.”
And the club’s own match report shed no more light, adding only that Lopetegui “will be hoping his skipper is fit to face Manchester City when the Irons return to action in the New Year.”
Bowen has since been flagged on FPL as having 75% chance of playing in Gameweek 20.
The more serious of the two aforementioned injuries appears to have been suffered by Gomez, with Slot fearing the English centre-back will be “out for quite a bit” after pulling up with a hamstring injury.
“If a player says he wants to stop, he has to be changed. In a sprint, then we all know it’s a hamstring and we all know it’s going [to] take a while before he is back. I don’t know how long but he will be out for quite a bit.” – Arne Slot on Joe Gomez
His return date, therefore, is unknown at this point, but it means third-string Jarell Quansah (£3.9m) may have to deputise alongside the ever-present Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) until whichever of Gomez or Ibrahima Konaté (£5.1m) recovers quickest.
The latest from Slot on the Frenchman, who has been absent with a knee injury since November, was that he would “see how close” he and Conor Bradley (£4.7m) are during the week off prior to the United match.
SALAH CRACKS 200-POINT BARRIER
Mohamed Salah’s (£13.6m) latest double-digit haul took him to 202 FPL points for the season – and he’s less than halfway through the campaign.
In addition to passing the 200-point mark far quicker than any other player in history, he’s also now two-thirds of the way towards topping his own FPL record haul of 303 points in a season (set back in 2017/18).
The Egyptian forward scored one of Liverpool’s five against West Ham on Sunday and perhaps should have netted more, having had seven shots and four Opta-defined ‘big chances’ as well as 19 penalty box touches.
He also created four chances, three of them ‘big chances’, en-route to registering two assists.
Not bad for a day’s work, with a 16-point Gameweek score meaning all eyes will be on FPL captaincy rival Cole Palmer (£11.4m) as he travels to Ipswich on Monday night.
REDS SHARE POINTS, KUDUS COMES CLOSE
Salah was top-scorer in the match and indeed Gameweek 19 so far, but there were points all around for the men in red as Liverpool kept their eighth clean sheet of the season while knocking five past the Hammers backline.
That shut-out plus a first goal of the season – from his only shot of the match, which was helped in its evasion of Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) by a deflection, and 0.02 expected goals (xG) – gave Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.1m) a 15-point haul, his highest single Gameweek score of the season.
It could have been an even bigger return for the 25% of FPL managers with the Reds right-back in their team, had more of his created chances been converted – including by Salah.
Alexander-Arnold created three total chances on Sunday, two of them ‘big chances’, while whipping in eight crosses.
After sitting out Liverpool’s Boxing Day win over Leicester, Luis Díaz (£7.6m) was back on the team sheet and the score sheet against the Hammers.
Starting centrally and impressing again in Slot’s frontline, the Colombian scored the opener after pouncing on a loose ball and had five attempts in total.
Elsewhere, Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.3m) was suspended, with Curtis Jones (£5.3m) starting in the midfield three again with Ryan Gravenberch (£5.0m) and Mac Allister.
Cody Gakpo (£7.3m) shook off the threat of rotation to make his seventh straight league start, doubling his side’s lead to take himself to four attacking returns in as many weeks. His own tally of two big chances were behind only Salah’s four in this match, and he also created a big chance, too.
While an early withdrawal – alongside Gravenberch, who made way for Endo (£4.6m) – just shy of the hour mark may have frustrated Gakpo’s FPL backers, the extra rest should boost his likelihood of keeping his spot in the starting XI, with the out of favour Darwin Núñez (£7.1m) remaining an unused substitute.
Both Dutchmen have accumulated four yellow cards so far this season, too, which presumably also played into Slot’s decision to remove them from the fray with the game largely wrapped up.
It was Diogo Jota (£7.2m) who replaced Gakpo for a half-hour run-out, the Portuguese justifying that decision by scoring his side’s fifth of the match with one of his two attempts on target. He could be the biggest threat to replace one of Díaz or Gakpo, should Slot opt to tweak his line-up next Sunday.
As a team Liverpool managed 22 attempts against West Ham, with six big chances.
Mohamed Kudus (£6.2m) was unlucky not to score for the hosts, first clattering an attempt off the post when his side were just a goal behind and then hitting the crossbar with a header later in the evening.
The Ghanaian also created a team-high two chances, including one big chance, in his 79 minutes of action.
Bowen started centrally before his early exit, with forward Niclas Füllkrug (£6.7m) only introduced at half-time. Crysencio Summerville (£5.6m) replaced the Hammers captain at the hour mark.
As mentioned, Areola was the man between the sticks for West Ham, making eight saves as he filled in for the injured Łukasz Fabiański (£4.1m).
But it was ultimately a night to forget for the entire Hammers defence, which switched to a back five after the interval but still could not stop the visitors adding their fourth and fifth goals.
MURILLO INJURY LATEST
Owners of Murillo (£4.6m) will feel aggrieved to have missed out on Forest’s latest clean sheet, with the Brazilian centre-back reportedly feeling pain and stiffness in the warm-up and subsequently sitting out his side’s 0-2 win at Goodison Park.
Addressing the issue, Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo said:
“We prepared for the game with Murillo. He started the warm-up but felt his adductor and it was too painful and stiff. It was about deciding whether to risk him or not, but the player was not comfortable. It was a quick turnaround to prepare and change the shape but the tasks were basically the same. It was about being aggressive and avoiding Everton being comfortable on the pitch.” – Nuno Espírito Santo on Murillo
“Let’s assess,” the Portuguese manager added after the match. “I hope it is nothing.”
The player himself appeared to allay any concerns of a serious setback via an Instagram post after full-time, saying: “Very happy for today’s big win and happy that I didn’t get seriously injured. Happy New Year to everyone and see you next year.”
In Murillo’s absence, Morato (£4.5m) was deployed at centre-back alongside Nikola Milenković (£4.7m) as Forest switched from their planned 3-4-3 to a 4-2-3-1, bringing winger Ramón Sosa (£5.5m) into the XI for his first start.
The deputising Brazilian defender impressed, racking up 13 clearances, four tackles and one interception as well as winning four duels, showing himself to be an able replacement should his teammate’s injury prove to be a recurring one. Indeed, Forest have recorded a clean sheet both times he has been called up to the starting line-up this season.
Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.3m) joined Murillo and the suspended Ryan Yates (£4.9m) among the absentees, with the ex-Chelsea midfielder having been unable to recover in time after picking up “a knock” against Spurs, according to his manager. Hudon-Odoi was spotted with an ice pack after being withdrawn in the closing stages of that Boxing Day match.
WOOD HAULS, DCL BENCHED
While Nuno was keen to reiterate post-match that his side “haven’t achieved anything yet”, the 2024-25 season has undeniably been a fantastic one so far for Forest – who finished Sunday second in the Premier League after their fifth consecutive win (out of 11 total victories) and third straight shut-out (of eight overall, the joint-highest in the division alongside Liverpool).
Chris Wood (£6.6m) ended a three-match barren run in style, scoring Forest’s opener and setting up Morgan Gibbs-White’s (£6.3m) decisive blow to claim maximum bonus for a 12-point haul.
The Kiwi striker had three shots in total to Gibbs-White’s two, but the Englishman was perhaps unlucky not to return more than his 10 FPL points, having also racked up 0.53 xA. He now has two goals and three assists in his last five matches after an injury-hit recent few months.
Anthony Elanga (£5.1m) also impressed once again, creating three chances, one of them a ‘big chance’, and registering an assist for Wood’s opener in the process. Often the most positionally advanced of his teammates, that followed three goals in as many Gameweeks, form which suggests the Swedish international could be a viable budget midfielder if he’s able to nail down a regular starting spot in this high-flying Forest side.
With their aforementioned defensive solidity deserting them, there are few positives to report from Everton’s performance.
The Toffees came into this tie riding a four-match unbeaten run that included three clean sheets, two of them against Arsenal and Chelsea, but their backline was breached early on Sunday by a clinical Forest attack that racked up five big chances from their 11 total attempts.
After that, another toothless display in front of goal left Sean Dyche’s side still searching for their fourth win of the campaign.
One talking point is Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m) – who is without a goal since Gamewek 4 – being dropped to the bench as Chelsea loanee Armando Broja (£5.4m) was given his first start up top.
The Albanian international failed to make his mark, though, with the Toffees’ only shots on target of their 13 total attempts arriving during late cameos from Calvert-Lewin and fellow substitute Beto (£4.9m).
This latest blank means Everton have now failed to find the back of the net in 10 of their 18 matches this season, including seven of their previous nine. Iliman Ndiaye’s (£5.4m) equaliser against Manchester City last week is also the only goal scored by an Everton forward since Gameweek 9.
Probably an attack to avoid investing in, then, and instead one to target when searching for defenders to start each week.
