Wednesday night brought Manchester City v Leicester City and Brighton and Hove Albion v Aston Villa to Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
So let’s continue the Gameweek 30 Scout Notes with another round-up.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Saka joy, Gabriel + Aina injuries, Wood latest
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Kluivert injury latest, Cherries struggle + Salah quiet
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Isak + Trippier injury updates, “tired” Palace
- READ MORE: FPL notes: 10 goals for Strand Larsen as West Ham attack toils
The numbers and graphics you see in this article come from our Premium Members Area. Here, you can access Opta player and team data from every single Premier League fixture.
NINE MARMOUSH SHOTS
Around 1.35 million FPL managers bought Omar Marmoush (£7.5m) for Gameweek 31, expecting goals at home to Leicester.
The logic was there, as his nine shots were the most of any player in a single 2024/25 match. But despite his 1.45 expected goals (xG), just one real strike took place, pouncing on a mix-up between Wout Faes (£3.9m) and Mads Hermansen (£4.4m).
Marmoush did at least reward his new owners with nine points, having claimed the maximum bonus.
Above: Marmoush’s shot map, via StatsBomb
The four-in-a-row champions settled for a 2-0 win, as Jack Grealish (£6.4m) not only made a rare start but scored his first league goal for 16 months.
Savinho (£6.2m) set up the opener to claim his 11th assist of this top-flight campaign. Yet the Brazilian is massively underachieving in terms of his own glory, being the second-biggest xG disappointment so far (-3.77).
A provider of plenty and due one himself, Savinho has a lot of differential potential.
PEP CONFIRMS HAALAND’S TIMELINE
Afterwards, Pep Guardiola spoke again on Erling Haaland‘s (£14.8m) ankle problem.
“We saw it [best] to make a treatment there, so five to six weeks.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland’s injury, assessed in Barcelona
This estimate suggests a comeback around Gameweek 36 or 37.
NORWEGIAN MAKES HIS RETURN
At least one Norwegian Man City guy could return from injury, as the 21-year-old winger Oscar Bobb (£4.7m) was applauded onto the pitch.
A highly promising pre-season was cut short by a leg break just before Gameweek 1.
He could prove to be a bargain, though it’s more likely that these final weeks will simply build his match fitness before the Club World Cup.
FODEN UNUSED + CENTRE-BACK GVARDIOL
Some managers interpreted Haaland’s absence as a reason to punt on Phil Foden (£9.2m), but last season’s second-best FPL asset was instead benched for the third time in four league games.
Furthermore, he didn’t come on as one of Pep’s four substitutions, allowing owners to call upon autosubs elsewhere.
At the back, half a million were rewarded for purchasing Josko Gvardiol (£6.1m) this week. He bagged a clean sheet, as Leicester reached 12 goalless matches from 15.
This season’s top defender for goals (five), big chances (10) and xG (4.21) had to play at centre-back but still mustered one shot.
RASHFORD UP FRONT
Meanwhile, Aston Villa loanee Marcus Rashford (£6.6m) followed his FA Cup brace with a goal at Brighton.
Within seconds of a Seagulls corner, Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) rolled the ball to Morgan Rogers (£5.5m), who then hit a long pass that put Rashford clean through. Very clinical.
It put Villa on their way to a sixth consecutive win in all competitions, with curiosity building over where Unai Emery intends to use Rashford. This time, his centre-forward role allowed an Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) benching.
“His second match in a row as a striker, getting confidence and goals. Of course, we have to support Ollie Watkins as well. He has to try to compete with Rashford to help the team as a striker. The next step maybe we can try to do – in case we have time – is to play with both.” – Unai Emery on Marcus Rashford
“With us, we were practicing and we were open to [him] playing both positions — as a winger and as a striker. It depends on each moment. For example, today he played as a striker because on Sunday we practiced and he scored two goals. I decided to carry on with the same position he was playing, but he can play as well on the left side. It depends.” – Unai Emery on Marcus Rashford
So Emery could play them both up front. They’ve started only one league match together from a possible six, versus Liverpool in Gameweek 25, where Watkins scored.
Above: Average positions from the match that both Ollie Watkins (11) and Marcus Rashford (9) started
ASENSIO + ROGERS SHINE
It was goalless at half-time but three January signings netted after the break to help Villa leapfrog Brighton in the table. The tight race for Champions League qualification is enthralling.
Constant FPL troll Rogers assisted twice to finish on 11 points. He cut the ball back for substitute Marco Asensio (£6.1m) to make it 2-0, and the Spaniard set up Donyell Malen (£5.3m) in the tenth minute of stoppage time.
“The adaptation was quick with Marco Asensio because the position he’s playing with us is really his position. Sometimes, he was not playing as number 10. But with us, it’s easy for him. Rashford is getting progressively better – more slowly. But now I think we can feel him playing with confidence and feeling good with his teammates and our idea. As a striker, his power is running behind the opponent.” – Unai Emery
It means that, despite only playing 36 minutes, Asensio is currently Gameweek 30’s top scorer with 12 points. In all competitions, he’s picked up eight goals and one assist in 10 matches.
EMERY TO KEEP ROTATING
However, what holds him back from being an essential FPL purchase is Villa’s rotation. Asensio has started just four of those 10, which makes the rate of attacking returns phenomenal, but there’s no game time reliability.
“Now, we are playing on Saturday and maybe we will have options and opportunities to show, to change some players on the field that didn’t play today. It’s because some players with two matches in a row playing in three days, maybe it’s not enough time to rest.” – Unai Emery
The victory at Brighton simply showcased Emery’s good squad depth, making it hard to predict his Gameweek 32 line-up at last-placed Southampton because it sits between both Champions League legs against Paris Saint-Germain. It’s not ideal if you’re planning to Bench Boost at that time.
It’s the same in defence, as centre-back Pau Torres (£4.2m) made his first start since December’s injury. So we don’t even know if Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) or Axel Disasi (£4.2m) will face the Saints.
At least they’ve collected a second successive clean sheet, though – a Simon Adingra (£5.1m) equaliser was ruled out due to Kaoru Mitoma‘s (£6.5m) handball.
