Phil Foden (£9.2m) and Cole Palmer (11.4m) both got on the scoresheet on Tuesday, as our Gameweek 21 Scout Notes begin with Brentford 2-2 Manchester City and Chelsea 2-2 Bournemouth.
FODEN BRACE
Phil Foden scored twice for Manchester City on Tuesday.
Playing with a swagger that has been missing for most of the current season, the England international volleyed home Kevin De Bruyne’s (£9.4m) cross, before prodding home a second after Savinho’s (£6.5m) shot had been saved.
Showing real signs of a return to form, Foden has now racked up four attacking returns and 29 points in his past three matches.
De Bruyne was particularly impressive at the Gtech Community Stadium, too.
The Belgian was City’s best player by some distance, creating eight chances in total for his team-mates. The assist for Foden’s opener was therefore fully deserved.
“We’ve built that combination now for years. I’ve been playing and training with him and I know the ability he has to put the balls into the box. It’s about making the movement and he will put it in the perfect spot for me. Mine and Kev’s connection is good on the pitch and he gave me the perfect ball, I just had to help it on. I was delighted to see it hit the back of the net.” – Phil Foden on Kevin De Bruyne
Elsewhere, Savinho smashed a shot against the post but continued his fine run of returns with an assist, while Mark Flekken (£4.4m) made decent stops to deny Erling Haaland (£14.8m) and De Bruyne.
The champions were once again vulnerable at the back, however, and there were flaws defending crosses throughout, a weakness that Christian Norgaard (£4.8m) could exploit late on.
“With the absence of the central defenders, Rodri, with many things, we are not [at our best] and we didn’t take the right decisions.” – Pep Guardiola
Rico Lewis (£4.6m) was benched, meanwhile, with Matheus Nunes (£4.9m) preferred at right-back, albeit an inverting one.
WISSA’S HOME FORM
Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) had a few chances to score on Tuesday but finally showed his quality late on, slotting home from Mads Roerslev’s (£4.3m) cross.
In doing so, he has drawn level with Haaland and team-mate Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m) for most goals scored at home in 2024/25, with nine.
The fact he has achieved that feat in just nine starts and 784 minutes makes it all the more impressive.
Players sorted by goals scored at home in 2024/25
Wissa racked up five shots in total on Tuesday, all inside the box, with Brentford dangerous every time they went forward.
“He probably should have scored two if I’m a little bit after him but he has been very good for us and the way he has taken over from Ivan [Toney], not only him but Bryan [Mbeumo] as well, the partnership between the two of them is quite unique.” – Thomas Frank on Yoane Wissa
Mbeumo failed to return but was a constant threat down the right, while Mikkel Damsgaard (£5.0m) had a goal ruled out for offside.
Elsewhere, Rico Henry (£4.3m) made his first Premier League appearance since September 2023, replacing Roerslev off the bench.
PALMER GOAL/JACKSON’S DROUGHT
Another excellent game of football took place at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
In a dominant first-half display, Cole Palmer stole the show and netted the opener, as Chelsea flooded forward at every opportunity.
Nicolas Jackson (£8.1m) did brilliantly to assist Palmer, who finished in style, but he once again lacked a cutting edge, with a succession of fluffed chances and to cap it off, a booking.
Seven shots, two big chances and 1.12 expected goals (xG) were registered, but having failed to score, Jackson has now gone five Premier League games without a goal.
Nicolas Jackson’s xG shot map v Bournemouth in Gameweek 21
Chelsea started to look short of ideas in an attacking sense after the break but finally found an equaliser courtesy of forgotten man Reece James (£4.8m).
With regular set-piece taker Palmer still on the pitch, it was initially unclear who would take the stoppage time free-kick, but in the end, James stepped up to score.
“Reece can compare with Cole in terms of free-kicks because he is very good. We decided for Reece and he scored and we are all happy because at least we took a point.” – Enzo Maresca
Chelsea are now winless in five league games, with just one clean sheet at home all season. They host Wolverhampton Wanderers next in Gameweek 22.
SENSATIONAL SEMENYO
Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) scored a superb second-half strike at Stamford Bridge, having previously won the penalty for Bournemouth’s opener.
The talented midfielder has been in impressive form recently, with two goals and two assists in his last five matches.
Bournemouth don’t have a recognised number nine right now but they do have players that can find space and impact games in the final-third, with Semenyo lining up on the left and Dango Ouattara (£5.0m) preferred through the middle in west London.
The set-up clearly paid off, as Bournemouth came roaring back in the second half, with substitute Justin Kluivert (£5.5m) also on target from the spot.
The Dutchman had earlier hit the post from open play, too.
Notably, Bournemouth have now scored at least two goals in each of their last six away matches, with a trip to Newcastle United up next on Saturday.
2 months, 20 days agoIs it worth using a free transfer on *insert any player except Isak* to Wood?