Eberechi Eze (£6.6m) and Antonee Robinson (£4.9m) both grabbed attacking returns on Sunday, as we turn our attention to Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton and Fulham 2-2 Bournemouth in our latest Scout Notes.
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EZE WAS “SUFFERING”
Eberechi Eze scored his first goal since Gameweek 3 as Crystal Palace came from behind to defeat Southampton at Selhurst Park.
This season, the 26-year-old has struggled to replicate the form he showed at the end of 2023/24, but Oliver Glasner believes his goal, a lovely strike from the edge of the box, will provide a much-needed confidence boost.
“I’m very pleased for him. Maybe it’s the circle of football. It started with the disallowed goal at Brentford after 10 minutes. It was the first game of the season and now it’s the last game in 2024 and now he scored this goal. He was really suffering, it looked like with this special moment. He had many big chances, great saves by the keepers, missing by one inch, hitting the post and then all of a sudden it was in his head.
“I could see him, he was suffering. I’m really pleased for him that he scored the game winner today. It will help him absolutely. I have mentioned it so often, with the strikers you can train with them, you can hug them, you can kick them. The only thing that helps is that they need this goal. He got it today. First half he had three, four situations with his dribbling, he had one finish into the arms of Ramsdale, he had two free kicks but this will help him definitely.” – Oliver Glasner on Eberechi Eze
In contrast, Daniel Munoz (£4.7m) had a shot blocked when he really should have scored (see below).
Ismaila Sarr (£5.9m) also blanked despite regularly threatening the Southampton backline, with three goal attempts and four key passes.
Overall, the pair combined for 1.55 expected goal involvement (xGI).
Daniel Munoz’s 36th-minute shot which was blocked by Kyle Walker-Peters, via StatsBomb
Palace were particularly strong from set plays on Sunday, with Trevoh Chalobah (£4.4m) equalising with a thumping first-half header.
It was Chalobah’s third strike of the season – Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) is the only Fantasy Premier League (FPL) defender to score more with four.
As for Southampton, Ivan Juric still awaits his first points since succeeding Russell Martin, but they did at least score.
Tyler Dibling (£4.5m) netted his second goal of the season to wipe out the Palace clean sheet. Teed up by Adam Armstrong (£5.1m), it was the first strike of the Juric era, having previously gone more than 450 minutes in the Premier League without scoring.
ANOTHER ROBINSON ASSIST
Fulham and Bournemouth extended their respective unbeaten runs to seven games following an entertaining 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage.
The Cherries created the best opportunities and probably edged it, but Marco Silva’s side have now taken points off Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bournemouth this month, with struggling Ipswich Town up next in Gameweek 20.
Once again setting up in a kind of hybrid 3-4-3/4-5-1 formation, Fulham took the lead when Raul Jimenez (£5.5m) headed home an Andreas Pereira (£5.0m) corner.
Harry Wilson (£5.2m), who was a real livewire throughout, added the second, guiding an Antonee Robinson cross into the net.
It was Robinson’s seventh assist of the campaign – only Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) have more, with 13 and 11 respectively.
Playing almost as a left winger, the new system allows Robinson plenty of attacking freedom, with 55.6% of Fulham’s chances created on Sunday coming from his side of the pitch, compared to just 22.2% on the right.
In a further boost, he’s now free from any immediate risk of suspension (a full Suspension Tightrope article will follow later this week).
Emile Smith Rowe (£5.3m) made his return from injury as a second-half substitute, too, adding to Silva’s squad depth.
EVANILSON ON TARGET
Despite trailing twice at Craven Cottage, Bournemouth fought back to secure a point, but they probably should have claimed all three.
David Brooks (£4.9m) and Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) peppered the Fulham goal, but it was the performance of Evanilson (£5.9m) that stood out most.
After an excellent James Hill (3.9m) pass, the Brazilian got in behind and finished from a tight angle – ending his run of seven league games without a goal.
Semenyo later found Dango Ouattara (£5.0m) to claim a full Opta assist.
“We are starting to understand his [Evanilson] movements better and the ball from James Hill is a lovely ball. He had another chance but his touch is too heavy and Leno does well.
“Very positive, it has to be. But they don’t give you anything for half of the season. We are starting to feel the injuries, we are quite thin of numbers.” – Andoni Iraola
Regular starter Justin Kluivert (£5.5m) is at least back from suspension now, with Everton set to visit the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
