Phil Foden (£9.3m) made it five goals in his last three Premier League games with a brace at Portman Road, as Manchester City put six past Ipswich Town.
Earlier in the day, Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United were soundly beaten by Brighton and Hove Albion.
Finishing off the Sunday Scout Notes, we look back on Ipswich Town 0-6 Manchester City and Manchester United 1-3 Brighton and Hove Albion.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Solanke + Johnson injuries, Everton’s change of shape
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 22 round-up: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
PEP ON FODEN
Manchester City steamrolled Ipswich Town on Sunday, with Phil Foden once again instrumental in the champions’ triumph.
The 24-year-old, who endured a particularly difficult start to the season, has now produced six goals and two assists in the last six Gameweeks, a period which has seen him rack up 59 points, the most of any Fantasy Premier League (FPL) player.
With the impressive Jeremy Doku (£6.2m) hugging the left touchline and Matheus Nunes (£4.9m) at right-back, Foden was able to drift inside, with both of his goals coming from central areas.
“Phil hasn’t been there for the first 2-3 months [of the season]. When he’s smiling every day, every game is two goals, three goals. The biggest quality of Phil is that around the box he has goals in his blood, his bones, in his mind. He thinks ‘I’m going to score’. It’s not easy to find. That’s why I want to try to put him in central positions because he has a specific quality. We talk many times the last month or few weeks, he was a completely different boy at the start of the season with a few problems. They are human beings and sometimes in a long career you have a setback, it’s normal. But we’re really pleased that he’s happy again and enjoying playing and that’s really good for all of us.” – Pep Guardiola on Phil Foden
“Today he was brilliant, and I’m really pleased for him. Today we played Jeremy there because he was training good, and against Salford in the FA Cup he played really good as well. Always Jeremy has doubts about his consistency every three days, because of injuries simple as that. For the way we play and in the final third, to have a player that can dribble one or two central defenders, the scenario is open and completely different to attack in the final third and today he was brilliant, really good.” – Pep Guardiola on Jeremy Doku
Another player to catch the eye at Portman Road was Kevin De Bruyne (£9.4m).
At the heart of City’s creativity, he supplied three assists, with the left side of City’s attack purring.
Mateo Kovacic (£5.4m), Doku, Erling Haaland (£14.8m) and James McAtee (£4.6m) got the other goals, and with the match pretty much over by half-time, Pep Guardiola was able to call upon his bench on the hour mark.
Foden, De Bruyne and Haaland all made way, with Guardiola turning his attention to City’s vital UEFA Champions League game at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, a clash which kickstarts a tricky run of games.
Sunday’s win also produced City’s second clean sheet in eight Premier League matches, which coincided with the return of Ederson (£5.3m) in goal and the highly influential Ruben Dias (£5.4m) at the back, who last played in Gameweek 16.
Nathan Ake (£5.3m) missed the trip to Portman Road after picking up an injury, meanwhile.
GREAVES ABSENT
Ipswich had a few chances on the counter-attack on Sunday, but from a defensive perspective, this was probably their worst performance of the season.
Kieran McKenna made five changes from the team which lost 2-0 to Brighton on Thursday, with two of his alterations at centre-half.
In came new signing Ben Godfrey (£4.0m) and Cameron Burgess (£3.9m), with Luke Woolfenden (£4.0m) and the semi-popular Jacob Greaves (£3.9m) completely left out of the 20-man squad.
McKenna didn’t discuss the changes in his post-match presser, but City had an extra two days rest than Ipswich, so it may simply have been a case of wanting to freshen things up.
He’s also known for not putting centre-backs on the bench, so the fact Greaves wasn’t in the squad doesn’t necessarily mean he is injured.
Next up for Ipswich is a daunting trip to Liverpool in Gameweek 23.
MITOMA IMPACT
Brighton fully deserved their win at Old Trafford on Sunday, as the Seagulls continued their fine record of scoring in every single Premier League away game this season.
Energetic and physically better throughout, the result keeps Fabian Hurzeler’s side in touch with the contenders for European qualification.
Kaoru Mitoma (£6.3m) was particularly influential.
It was his pass to Yankuba Minteh (£5.0m) which opened the scoring before Minteh returned the favour later on.
As a result, it’s now back-to-back double-digit hauls for the Japan winger.
“When Kaoru always stays active not near the ball, when he knows how to use his speed to do the deep run with the right timing at the right moment, then he is a big, big player. Because he has everything. He is fast, he is good one against one, he can score goals, he can find solutions in narrow spaces with not a lot of time. I am really happy to work with him. He is a good listener.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Karou Mitoma
Elsewhere, Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) started up front with Joao Pedro (£5.6m) in behind, a combination that brought the best out of both players earlier this season.
Pedro was unlucky not to score at Old Trafford, with his goal, perhaps harshly, ruled out by VAR.
Substitute Georginio Rutter (£5.1m) did complete the scoring on 76 minutes, however, capitalising on an Andre Onana (£5.1m) howler.
A quick word on Yasin Ayari (£5.0m), too.
He isn’t of much interest to Fantasy managers but his performance here was superb, with his partnership with Carlos Baleba (£5.0m) in the middle of the park going from strength to strength.
UNITED SLUMP TO ANOTHER DEFEAT
“We are maybe the worst team in the history of Manchester United. I know that you want headlines but I’m saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that. Everybody here is underperforming, no matter what the circumstances. It is unacceptable to lose so many games for any club in the Premier League, never mind Manchester United. It is a really hard moment but we have to continue. The opponents are better than us in many details. That we cannot be consistent. That I am not helping my players in the moment. It is a hard moment. We have to acknowledge we are in a very difficult situation. All the bad records, losing games at home, losing in the Premier League, we are really underperforming.” – Ruben Amorim
This was another desperately poor performance from Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United, who have now won just two of their last nine Premier League games.
Remarkably, United’s only shot on target came from a Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) penalty on Sunday.
As for Amad Diallo (£5.6m), he was deployed as an attacking midfielder, and despite blanking, looked like United’s biggest threat in open play, racking up a match-high four key passes.
It isn’t saying much, however, with Joshua Zirkzee (£6.5m) failing to contribute much as the centre-forward.
He did at least win the penalty that Fernandes converted, but he is more a facilitator than a goalscorer, which showed in his performance here.
It’s also worth noting United are now without a clean sheet since Gameweek 13, placing 14th for expected goals conceded (xGC) in that time.
