FPL notes: Nkunku plays all 90, Ait-Nouri goal

Continuing our reaction to FA Cup third round weekend, we’ve got another ‘mini Scout Notes’.

This time we cover the ties involving Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City.

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SATURDAY’S RESULTS

TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION

JACKSON RESTED FOR GAMEWEEK 21

As we know by now, Chelsea’s large squad is divided into two clusters: the league lineup and the cup crew. While it was unsurprising that Cole Palmer (£11.4m), Enzo Fernandez (£5.1m) and Levi Colwill (£4.6m) were unused substitutes for their 5-0 win over Morecambe, owners of frustrating forward Nicolas Jackson (£8.1m) will have been relieved to see Christopher Nkunku (£5.8m) play all 90 minutes.

He’s scored once in six matches despite 17 shots inside the box and 2.56 expected goals (xG), causing him to be the most-sold player since FPL’s last deadline. However, back-to-back home clashes with Bournemouth and Wolves look encouraging and are placed six days apart, as opposed to some teams playing twice within 72 hours.

Above: The biggest expected goals (xG) underachievers between Gameweeks 15 to 20

Nkunku missed a penalty but later made amends by scoring. This was sandwiched by two long-range strikes from centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.2m), before a Joao Felix (£6.0m) brace. One was set up by substitute Marc Cucurella (£5.2m), while Tyrique George (£4.5m) bagged a couple of assists.

ILL MADUEKE WILL ALSO BE READY

Meanwhile, one Chelsea attacker absent from Saturday’s squad was the ill Noni Madueke (£6.2m). Head coach Enzo Maresca has already confirmed that the winger will be back to face the Cherries.

“Noni is back and he’s available after illness. He’s trained with us and he’s 100 per cent fit for tomorrow.” – Enzo Maresca on Noni Madueke

Fantasy managers curious about Reece James‘ (£4.8m) assist need to know that his half-time withdrawal was planned, with the intent of slowly easing him back into proceedings. After all, he’s not featured in the league since a Gameweek 11 cameo.

“The idea is to build their condition slowly, especially with Reece as we need to be a little bit more careful. The good thing is they have both played 45 minutes and they both finished well with no problems. Hopefully, we can start to help them build the right condition.” – Enzo Maresca on Reece James and Romeo Lavia

GOAL THREAT FROM AIT-NOURI

Elsewhere, festive sellers of Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) had to witness more attacking returns from Wolves’ wing-back. Over 1.5 million managers had him between Gameweeks 12 to 16 but only received an assist and a red card.

Many sold him, ensuring his ownership was tiny when setting up two goals and delivering 10 points at Tottenham Hotspur. This time, Ait-Nouri forced a save when reaching a cross from the middle of the six-yard box. Soon after, he successfully headed home a delivery from Joao Gomes (£4.9m).

Post-match words from new boss Vitor Pereira highlight that he’s specifically asking for this from wing-backs. So maybe the Algerian will be back on our FPL radars once fixtures improve.

“Our wing-backs, when we are attacking, they must be wingers. The wingers, when the cross comes from one side, they must be in the box to score. The last run is the most important. If we play to get a chance to score, we need to do the last run because the last run is the run that will allow us to score. It’s not a surprise for me that they score goals.” – Vitor Pereira

New £16.6m arrival Emmanuel Agbadou made his debut at Ashton Gate, on the left side of their back three. Wolves blew Bristol City away with many early chances but couldn’t kill off the game, allowing their hosts back into it on the stroke of half-time. Holding on for a 2-1 victory, they’ll visit Blackburn Rovers in the fourth round.

JUSTIN BRACE

Sticking to the topic of attacking defenders, it’s currently a popular time to collect them. Antonee Robinson (£5.0m), Lewis Hall (£4.9m), Daniel Munoz (£4.7m) and Milos Kerkez (£4.8m) offer good value for money and Leicester City’s James Justin (£4.2m) chose this occasion to exhibit his own goalscoring knack.

Just like when he deflated those with double Arsenal defence by netting twice at the Emirates in Gameweek 6, the 26-year-old scored a couple versus Queens Park Rangers.

Or we think he did. It was a very foggy afternoon. Apparently, he met Facundo Buonanotte‘s (£4.8m) free-kick to open proceedings and later drove a low shot into the far corner.

Above: Defenders ranked by most 2024/25 attempts on target

£4.2m is an appealing price for FPL’s sixth-best defender in terms of box shots (14). He’s also joint-sixth for attempts on target (five). But the problem remains Leicester’s inability to keep a clean sheet, proved once more here.

At least they were able to score six themselves, via Buonanotte, Stephy Mavididi (£5.1m), a Jamie Vardy (£5.5m) penalty and Wout Faes (£4.0m) picking up a loose ball, then striding forward to whack one in from distance.

That’s what it seemed like, anyway.

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