It’s time for the Scout Notes from two more Gameweek 24 matches: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Aston Villa and Ipswich Town 1-2 Southampton. This includes the latest on Ollie Watkins (£8.9m), who suffered an unfortunate injury at Molineux.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 24 round-up: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Trent injury latest, Cherries impress + Beto praise
WATKINS INJURY LATEST
Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) fifth most-owned forward, Ollie Watkins, picked up a muscle injury at Molineux on Saturday.
The England international was subsequently subbed off at half-time, with Unai Emery hopeful it isn’t “important”.
“I changed him because he was feeling a little bit of pain in his muscle. Hopefully tomorrow we will test him and assess him and it won’t be anything important. I changed him because of it.” – Unai Emery on Ollie Watkins
With Jhon Duran sold to Al-Nassr, Watkins was replaced by £5.5m FPL midfielder Donyell Malen, one of four half-time substitutes, who was only refused an equaliser by a harsh VAR call.
Later denied twice by Jose Sa (£4.3m), it was a lively showing from the former Borussia Dortmund man, with Leon Bailey’s (£6.2m) lack of form set to present further opportunities in the second half of the season.
Above: Aston Villa’s first (left) and second half (right) passing networks
ANOTHER UCL HANGOVER
Overall, however, this was a poor Villa display, with Morgan Rogers (£5.6m) picking up his eighth booking of the season and largely anonymous, Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m) uncomfortable as an emergency centre-back and debutant Andres Garcia (£4.5m) often sloppy in possession.
Villa’s failure to win after playing in the UEFA Champions League is becoming a bit of a theme.
Unai Emery’s side have been unable to get three points following a match in Europe on seven separate occasions this season, with one win, three draws and four defeats.
By beating Celtic 4-2 last week, they have at least avoided two extra play-off games.
“We just weren’t good enough today, simple as that. Second half, we performed better but we didn’t have enough. We can make excuses about being fatigued but, if we want to play in the Champions League, we have to be prepared to play this much.
“This season away from home, we have conceded early quite a lot and it is something we have to work on. The second half was better, but it wasn’t enough. We put pressure on but I don’t think we troubled their back four or goalkeeper enough. We have to improve and we have to do it now.
“I think we have to stop conceding goals. I feel like we are conceding every game and me, being in the backline, I have to go back, look on it and change it.” – Ezri Konsa
CUNHA SCORES… THEN PENS NEW DEAL
Having previously lost four in a row, Wolverhampton Wanderers were in desperate need of a win at Molineux and they duly delivered, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (£4.9m) and Matheus Cunha (£6.8m) on the scoresheet.
Cunha, who racked up four shots in total, scored the second and his first since coming back from suspension, taking him to 11 goals in 23 league appearances this term.
“He has this quality, he’s a special player. He has the quality to get the ball and, alone, to create a goal. He’s committed with us.” – Vitor Pereira on Matheus Cunha
Perhaps just as important as the three points is the fact Cunha has since signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract, boosting his appeal from Gameweek 27 onwards:
Bellegarde was superb to watch, too.
With Joao Gomes (£4.9m) suspended, the Frenchman was asked to play in a deeper midfield role and put in a real shift, driving Wolves forward at every opportunity.
“He was amazing. He’s not a big player, but he was a giant on the pitch. Bellegarde played at a high level and showed me he’s a player I must look at with different eyes. I spoke with him because I didn’t know his position in this system and today he proved he can play with two in the middle without problems and with high quality.” – Vitor Pereira on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde
SOTON + IPSWICH INJURIES/ENCISO FULL DEBUT
Southampton suffered injury blows to two defenders on Saturday, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis (£4.0m) and his replacement Jack Stephens (£4.0m) both coming off injured.
Joe Aribo (£4.9m), who scored the Saints opener, therefore had to fill in at centre-back, as Ivan Juric claimed his first Southampton win.
“We will see. I hope that Harwood-Bellis doesn’t have anything big because it is his ankle and maybe sometimes you can manage this situation. For Jack it’s his calf. It’s a problem with his calf, and I am a little bit more worried.” – Ivan Juric on Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jack Stephens
Paul Onuachu (£4.9m), who has now scored two goals in his last three appearances, won the match late on.
Elsewhere, Juric handed debuts to Welington £4.0m) and Albert Gronbaek (£5.0m) at Portman Road, with the former impressing most down the left flank.
As for Ipswich Town, they had Arijanet Muric (£4.4m) back in goal, with Christian Walton (£4.3m) set to be sidelined for a number of weeks with a groin injury.
He’ll be disappointed with his display, however, having been at fault for both Southampton goals, so it’s no surprise the Tractor Boys have signed a new ‘keeper.
Further forward, Julio Enciso (£5.4m) impressed on his full debut, registering a match-high six shots and combining well with goalscorer Liam Delap (£5.6m).
“I think Julio is a fantastic player, he’s been a shining light at the training ground this week. His play, his energy, his enthusiasm for the game, I thought he showed a really, really high level.” – Kieran McKenna on Julio Enciso
Delap, meanwhile, has now produced 11 attacking returns in 23 Premier League games this season, which means he has been directly involved in 65% of Ipswich’s goals when on the pitch, the highest of any regular starter.
