We’ve got Scout Notes on two more of Tuesday’s Gameweek 26 matches, including the weekly defeat for Southampton and the all-south-coast clash at the Amex.
There’s only one place to start, however: a blank for the player captained by 1.4 million managers…
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PALMER’S “BAD MOMENT”
Above: Cole Palmer’s non-penalty xG for this match was his third-highest of the season
Seven shots, two big chances and an expected goals tally of 1.30. If you’d offered Cole Palmer (£11.1m) captainers that before kick-off on Tuesday, they’d have probably accepted and expected a goal or two from it.
As we know now, of course, all seven shots went begging. The two missed glaring opportunities in the first half, shown below, set the tone. Slipped clean through on goal by Enzo Fernandez (£4.7m) and Jadon Sancho (£6.2m), Palmer fired straight at Aaron Ramsdale (£4.4m) and wide respectively.
Palmer’s drought now extends to six league matches – and even Enzo Maresca admitted that his talisman is in a “bad moment”.
“Cole Palmer, I will say once again, he’s a human being. All human beings, all the big players, all the normal players, all the big clubs, big managers, we all go through a bad moment or moments where we struggle to score.
“In this moment, Cole struggles to score or struggles to do the right thing, but he’s happy, he knows exactly that it’s something normal. He’s also lucky because Cole, even if he’s young, he shares time in a big club with the big players, and he knows that all the big players, they go through moments like this.
“It’s how you react, and he’s reacting perfect. He’s laughing, he’s happy, he has to enjoy football, and for sure, we don’t have any doubt, he’s going to score more goals.” – Enzo Maresca
Palmer tops the transfers out column heading into Gameweek 28 but most owners will likely be keeping for Leicester City (h). Probably fewer of them will be considering handing him the armband this time, even if Liverpool’s mouth-watering home clash with Southampton is sandwiched by a UEFA Champions League double-header.
NETO THROUGH THE MIDDLE AGAIN
Away from the Palmer sideshow, the match at Stamford Bridge went pretty much as expected.
Even against a side as poor as Chelsea had been recently, Southampton are just not cut out for this level. You wonder what on earth the damage could be when they visit Liverpool next weekend.
Five of the Blues’ starting XI banked double-digit hauls on Tuesday, three of them defenders. Marc Cucurella (£5.1m) and Levi Colwill (£4.4m) supplemented their clean sheets with goals, while Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.2m) claimed a headed assist for Christopher Nkunku‘s (£5.7m) first strike since… Southampton away in December.
Above: Marc Cucurella’s attacking threat has taken an uptick since Gameweek 12. He’s fourth for xGI among defenders in that time.
Nkunku also assisted Pedro Neto‘s (£6.2m) goal, with the Portugal international in turn teeing up Colwill. This was another match in which Neto led the line, although there was plenty of movement within Maresca’s set-up.
Having impressed as a centre-forward against Aston Villa, Neto always looked attractive as a short-term punt given the Gameweek 27/28 fixtures. The question, though, is does he appeal beyond that? With the cups and an international break looming, there are only two more Gameweeks between now and April. After that, Nicolas Jackson (£7.7m) is expected back. So too is Noni Madueke (£6.1m), who will add to the competition in the wide areas.
A great fixture against Leicester next, then, but game-time uncertainty awaits from Gameweek 30 onwards. The same goes for Nkunku, who was on the left wing here.
It’ll also be worth monitoring minutes in next Thursday’s UEFA Conference League tie against Copenhagen, with the visit of the Foxes coming less than 72 hours after that tie.
“We tried one game with Cole [up front], we tried the other game with Christopher Nkunku. Both games against Brighton away. Didn’t work well. So, the week after we tried with Pedro and we saw that it could work. I think Villa away he did fantastic. Tonight again. He probably gives us a threat in behind because he is not just receiving the ball in the feet, he also likes to attack in behind – something that probably Cole and Christo, they struggle [with].” – Enzo Maresca on Pedro Neto
At the back, Filip Jørgensen (£4.2m) kept his place (as expected) and a much-needed clean sheet. The Blues also had Wesley Fofana (£4.3m) back in the squad, as a substitute, after nearly three months out.
SMALL MARGINS
A predictably tight clash at the Amex just went the way of Brighton.
Take Joao Pedro‘s (£5.4m) penalty out of the equation and the xG was close (1.30-1.43 on Statsbomb). Bournemouth had more shots (11-19), Albion dominated on big chances (5-2, including Pedro’s penalty). One spot-kick was awarded for the hosts, another denied for the visitors.
Antonie Semenyo (£5.7m) and Dango Ouattara (£5.2m) both had excellent opportunities for the Cherries, while substitute Evanilson (£5.6m) couldn’t readjust his feet when three yards out late on.
There was some irony that one of Bournemouth’s lowest-xG efforts of the evening brought about their goal. Justin Kluivert (£6.0m) scored a screamer from distance, bringing him to 10 away goals for 2024/25. Only Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) has more.
At the other end, Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) clonked the woodwork with an acrobatic effort from eight yards. He and Georginio Rutter (£5.1m) probably should have done better with off-target efforts before that.
“I think we’ve been as good [as], if not better than, Brighton, overall in the game, especially in the second half. But they’ve been much better in the boxes.” – Andoni Iraola
Two teams that could barely be separated on the night now can’t be separated by points. Both of them are on 43, part of a seven-strong pack that is tightly bunched together from 4th-10th.
EVANILSON’S FIRST MINUTES
After a shock return to the matchday squad as an unused substitute in Gameweek 26, Evanilson made it onto the field this time.
The Brazilian emerged as a 77th-minute replacement, with Ouattara, who had again led the line, making way.
Evanilson – who unquestionably is more of a natural than Dango up top, particularly off the ball – looked sharp but Andoni Iraola reiterated the need for more training.
“I think he’s not complaining about the foot, it’s about getting in shape because he needs training like everyone else when you stop for a lot of weeks. You need to get in shape again. It can only be with minutes. But obviously Sini[sterra], Evanilson, Alex Scott, they are coming from injuries and they lack this sharpness that the players that have been playing regularly have.” – Andoni Iraola on Evanilson
Evanilson now has an FA Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers in which to further build his fitness before Gameweek 28. That next league match is still 11 days away, so the Brazilian forward should be sharper by then. Could we be on a collision course with a Blank Gameweek 29 benching for Ouattara?
The Cherries lost Ryan Christie (£4.9m) to a groin injury, meanwhile, with further assessment to follow.
PEDRO SCORES AGAIN BUT WELBECK RETURNS
After returning to the starting XI in Gameweek 26, Pedro made it two goals in as many matches with his second spot-kick of 2024/25.
The man he replaced at the weekend, Danny Welbeck (£5.5m), made a swift return from injury on Tuesday, however.
The veteran striker came off the bench for Pedro in the 71st minute, trundling in a winner four minutes later.
With Rutter also in good form of late, it’s a welcome head-scratcher for Fabian Hurzeler in attack. For FPL managers, less so.
“We are happy that we have both. Joao Pedro showed a really good reaction after he was sitting on bench, I think he didn’t want to sit on the bench so credit to him that he really believed well as a team player and waited for his chance. Now he used it. On top of that, we have Danny after his small issue back. It’s a good situation that I can make a decision between these two.” – Fabian Hurzeler on his forwards
One Brighton starter who FPL managers may not be aware of, or interested in, is Diego Gomez (£5.5m). The young Paraguayan was making his full Premier League debut here, operating in central midfield.
His eye for a forward pass was what really stood out. Providing the killer through-ball for the penalty that Pedro won, he also brilliantly slipped Mitoma in for the winger’s big chance.
While there’s plenty of competition in central midfield, his forward-thinking should benefit the likes of Mitoma and Pedro.
- READ MORE: FPL transfer round-up: Who is Diego Gomez?
