The remaining two Premier League matches from Saturday are the focus of this latest Gameweek 31 Scout Notes article.
It’s Crystal Palace’s 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion first before we reflect on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ safety-securing (surely!) win over Ipswich Town.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Kluivert injury update + four in four for Evanilson
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Arteta on rotation, Saka’s fitness + Merino
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Wood + Elanga injury updates, Emery on rotation
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Why Palmer was benched + Slot on Salah’s form
TWO BANNED FOR PALACE’S FIRST GAMEWEEK 32 FIXTURE
Gameweek 32 is a ‘double’ for Crystal Palace but two of their players will only play the once.
Marc Guehi (£4.7m) and Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m) were dismissed for two bookable offences in a barmy end to the A23 ‘derby’ on Saturday.
They’ll sit out the Manchester City game next weekend, returning for the trip to Newcastle United.
Oliver Glasner could have a real headache at the back. As well as Guehi being out, Maxence Lacroix (£4.5m) might be sidelined. He was taken off with a head injury against Brighton, although it’s not totally clear if he really was concussed.
“I don’t know [if Lacroix had a concussion]. We had three windows already, but we were allowed to do so and bring on an extra substitute. We had four subs before, so it wasn’t an additional sub, but it was an additional window. I was told by the fourth official that we could do it. The real reason behind it, I don’t know.” – Oliver Glasner, via London News Online
The third of the three first-choice centre-halves, Chris Richards (£4.4m), was absent again with a calf problem. Glasner, however, hopes to have him back for Gameweek 32.
“I think Chris Richards will come back.” – Oliver Glasner
Brighton will be without one of their own centre-backs in Gameweek 32 after Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) was given his marching orders, again for two cautions.
MANAGED MINUTES FOR KEY FORWARDS
This was another match in which Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m) was taken off prematurely, although he had already done the damage as early as the third minute on Saturday.
Mateta was hooked at the midway point of the second half, an improvement on his 58th-minute withdrawal against Southampton.
As for Joao Pedro (£5.6m), he was limited to substitute duty. It’s doubtful whether it was form-related: Fabian Hurzeler had been pleased with his Gameweek 30 contribution.
Was it a case of looking after an injury, however? Pedro has been seen with strapping on his knee since the international break. A substitute in the FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend, he was then given 71 minutes in midweek. With a sub-72-hour turnaround, he was back on the bench against Palace, coming on for the last 27 minutes.
Post-match interviews failed to elicit a quote on either striker.
KEY PALACE ASSETS DELIVER… APART FROM SARR
No returns, no shots and no chances created for Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) – but the other key Fantasy assets from Palace delivered the goods.
Mateta, Glasner and Daniel Munoz (£5.2m) all emerged with eight points from this victory, the latter scoring the Eagles’ winner.
It’s now nine attacking returns for the season for Munoz. Only Antonee Robinson (£4.9m) has more among FPL defenders.
Eberechi Eze (£6.8m) assisted both of Palace’s goals, although the Eagles certainly made the most of their chances: there were just eight in all, to a tune of 0.48 xG. Both goals came from the edge of the box (Mateta’s was a cracker), while other than those two strikes the hosts had just one open-play shot from inside the area.
Dean Henderson (£4.6m) was arguably Palace’s star performer, indeed, making four stops in all.
Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) got the better of him on the half-hour, converting Yankuba Minteh‘s (£5.0m) cross. With struggling Leicester City up next, some of these budget Seagulls will surely come into the thinking for Gameweek 32 Bench Boosters.
CUNHA TO RETURN IN GAMEWEEK 32
Like Krusty missing some major developments after six weeks in Reno, Matheus Cunha (£6.8m) is set to return to action in Gameweek 32 – just after Wolves have taken 10 points from a possible 12 in his absence and all but assured Premier League safety.
A win over Ipswich Town on Saturday effectively condemned the Tractor Boys, along with Leicester City, to the drop. Southampton were confirmed as down a day later.
It was hard to argue that the win wasn’t deserved. Wolves had almost four times as many shots (22-6) and well over four times the xG.
Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.3m) missed two good chances, Joao Gomes (£4.9m) hit the woodwork, while Toti Gomes (£4.3m) – with one of three set-piece attempts he had – had an effort blocked from about two yards out. Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) meanwhile registered four shots and five chances created, both joint-high figures in Suffolk.
Strand Larsen and substitute Pablo Sarabia (£5.0m) made the pressure count in the end.
Strand Larsen and Liam Delap (£5.6m), who grabbed Ipswich’s opener, now have 23 league goals between them this season. Forget Joao Pedro and Raul Jimenez (£5.4m): these two are, indeed, the leading sub-£6.5m forwards for goals scored in 2024/25.
Vitor Pereira faces a welcome headache in Gameweek 32 in a fixture that looks theirs for the winning, as Tottenham Hotspur will be in the middle of a UEFA Europa League double-header.
Cunha normally walks into the side but Jeanricner Bellegarde (£4.9m) has been good of late, while Pereira highlighted Marshall Munetsi‘s (£5.0m) role in freeing up space for Strand Larsen. Sarabia has just bagged a double-digit haul off the bench, too.
“He’s increased his level because Munetsi is playing close to him. Now he has someone that is attacking the space, opening the space for him.” – Vitor Pereira on Jorgen Strand Larsen
