Lukasz Fabianski (£4.1m) lost his place in goal at Villa Park on Sunday.
In a significant development for his 16.7% ownership, the Polish shot-stopper was replaced by Alphonse Areola (£4.2m), who returned to the starting XI after sitting on the bench in Gameweek 22.
Explaining his decision prior to kick-off, Graham Potter said:
“We’re fortunate that we have got experienced keepers and talented keepers. I just felt Alphonse was the right choice today. Who knows what happens in the future?” – Graham Potter
Potter has a preference for ball-playing goalkeepers, and while Areola isn’t exactly Manuel Neuer, he is better with his feet than Fabianski, who is often slow with his distribution.
Areola did well on the occasions he was called into action at Villa Park, even if they were few and far between.
If Fabianski has been dropped permanently, it could potentially put some Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers off going for Alisson Becker (£5.5m) in Double Gameweek 24, given that Liverpool will blank in Gameweek 29 if they reach the Carabao Cup final.
POTTER’S WING-BACK THREAT
West Ham didn’t get the win on Sunday but there were lots of positives for Potter to take from this performance.
After a slow start, the Hammers – who had a full week to prepare for this game – began to create more opportunities and got a deserved equaliser in the second half, when Emerson Palmieri (£4.4m) powered in a header at the far post.
Both of West Ham’s wing-backs had plenty of attacking freedom at Villa Park, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) particularly aggressive with his movement down the right flank.
In fact, he ended the match with 35 final third touches, the most of any other player on the pitch.
The fluid front three of Lucas Paqueta (£5.7m), Mohammed Kudus (£6.2m) and Carlos Soler (£5.0m) also caused problems.
Paqueta posed a real threat in a false nine role, firing wide on a couple of occasions. He also had the ball in the back of the Villa net late on, only for an offside flag to deny him.
“He was a real handful. You can play into him because he’s so strong. Really pleased for him, really good performance and he worked so hard for the team.” – Graham Potter on Lucas Paqueta
DIGNE AT CENTRE-BACK
Aston Villa’s defensive options are starting to look extremely thin after Tyrone Mings (£4.4m) limped off with a knee issue during Sunday’s draw with West Ham.
With Pau Torres (£4.2m) also out injured and Diego Carlos recently leaving to join Fenerbahce, Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) is the only fit senior centre-half at present.
Unai Emery did at least suggest Mings’ injury didn’t look too serious in his post-match presser, something backed up by the player himself on Instagram.
“I don’t know. Tomorrow we will test him and hopefully, it is not a lot. Things like that are punishing us.” – Unai Emery on Tyrone Mings
The loss of Mings, who has only just returned to action from an ACL injury, forced a defensive reshuffle, with Lucas Digne (£4.6m) surprisingly moving inside alongside Konsa to centre-back, rather than Lamare Bogarde (£4.0m).
“I was a little upset because we are without Pau [Torres] and we haven’t yet replaced Diego Carlos. Lamare Bogarde can play centre back on the right but playing on the left, with our build-up, I decided for Lucas [Digne] because he has experience, he has a left foot.” – Unai Emery
It certainly rocked Villa’s stability, with West Ham successfully targeting the void on the left after the break.
It did at least start well for the home side on Sunday, with Jacob Ramsey’s (£5.4m) clinical strike after a lovely one-two with Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) putting them ahead.
Morgan Rogers (£5.5m), back in a No 10 role, also had the ball in the net two minutes later. Like Paqueta, an offside flag thwarted him.
Overall though, Villa looked drained and they don’t have long to recover either, with Celtic in town for a crucial UEFA Champions League clash on Wednesday.
MARTINEZ SEALS WIN
In a low-quality contest at Craven Cottage, Lisandro Martinez’s (£4.4m) deflected strike was enough to win it for Manchester United.
Remarkably, that was United’s only shot on target of the game. Neither side showed much ambition in attack:
As for Martinez, he now has three attacking returns in his last seven games under Ruben Amorim, with the Portuguese discussing his role after full-time:
“Yes, they are nowadays sometimes the midfielders because you don’t often have a lot of space between the lines and you have to find this space. They are the players who have the game in front and they have to be the midfielders, so it’s really important. I think when the centre defenders play well with the ball, we play well. It’s something that Licha does really well, he can take the ball. He has to continue and the other guys have to improve also in that area.” – Ruben Amorim on Lisandro Martinez
Elsewhere, Amad Diallo (£5.6m) had a goal ruled out for a tight offside, while Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) struggled to make much of an impact in a deeper midfield role, registering just two shots (both outside the box), one penalty area touch and one key pass.
Alex Iwobi (£5.8m) and Antonee Robinson (£5.1m) asked most of the questions for Fulham as usual.
In fact, 42.9% of Fulham’s chances came from the left, compared to just 14.3% on the right.
An injury to Harry Wilson (£5.2m) is a concern then, given that the Welshman was just starting to pick up some form on the right of Fulham’s attack.
“We have to assess him, it’s difficult for me to say now how long he could be out or not. Let’s hope nothing serious.” – Marco Silva on Harry Wilson
To be honest does anyone care? I've got Allison/Fabianski, I'll probably just go with no keeper for GW29 if it happens. Such a minefield position anyway. Unless Fabianski was your no1 or you're planning a BB it doesnt matter that much.
With so much thought process going into the new AssMan chip and so much uncertainty among most managers on how to use it optimally, I've broken it down into one simple rule to make things less complicated: go for the manager with the biggest arse for the AssMan chip. Makes things simple and will probably live up to it's name.
Need an opinion please. Have all chips, 5k rank overall, nees to be flawless with the chips. Don't feel right time for any chip right now.. listening to you?
Maybe Moyes to Silva(For) is the move as a draw is (6) and win is (10) for table bonus, and then move again the week after Iraola(Wol) or stick with Silva for Palace.. Was going to go straight to Iraola for that Soton fixture
Who do people prefer as a Bournemouth asset: A) Kluivert - On pens and scoring long rangers atm, but is that sustainable? B) Semenyo - Seems to be the main man for Bournemouth and slightly cheaper than Kluivert. But no set pieces but less routes to points C) Dango - Hot off a hat trick and playing OOP alongside being cheapest. But how long will he start for and was it just a one off?
Dango looks so dangerous and is very direct! I'll get him myself for southampton. Just need to keep an eye out for the Bournemouth transfers...Any new striker signing and i will go kluivert
He's been asked about Rashford almost every PC and just answering as directly as he has been every time. Also doesn't look like the players are "turning", if anything they've been answering him positive almost everytime he's been challenging them.
Sporting destroyed City in a competition earlier this season & dismantled them completely, his teams are incredible. You either perform & improve or rot on the bench he's ruthless.
Following Mbuemo’s penalty, the VAR established that Guehi had encroached on the penalty area and impacted an opponent, therefore recommended that the penalty was retaken.
Guys so sorry if this has been answered as I'm sure it has, but i couldn't find anything... Is it possible to play AM one week then BB the week after with the AM chip still active? To really make the most of the double in future Thanks!
No - I don't need the funds it gives me at present - although nice to have in future. It should give me more points this GW and Pickford has been a good points scorer all season. It covers an unlikely no keeper in GW29 issue.
How do you choose the assistant manager? Can’t see any options yet. I see the chip, but you play that after choosing the manager don’t you? Thanks peeps 🙂
Who would you rather Sels and Gabriel this week or Pickford and an Everton defender but for a minus 4? I could just get an Everton defender and no hit but I can’t get Pickford without a hit
