Finishing off Sunday’s Scout Notes, we run the rule over Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Southampton.
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CITY STRUGGLE
Man United and Man City played out an underwhelming goalless draw on Sunday, as both sides failed to get out of first gear.
Neither goalkeeper really had much to do, which is reflected in StatsBomb’s expected goals (xG) race chart.
City have now scored just five goals in their last six matches. It admittedly hasn’t been an easy run (mun/LEI/BHA/nfo/tot/LIV), but Pep Guardiola’s side clearly need to sharpen up their attack, having mustered just 43 shots in the box in that timeframe.
Kevin De Bruyne (£9.3m) started his final Manchester derby on Sunday, one of four changes to the side that defeated Leicester City. Phil Foden (£9.2m), Bernardo Silva (£6.1m) and Mateo Kovacic (£5.4m) were also included, as Jack Grealish (£6.4m), Savinho (£6.2m), Jeremy Doku (£6.2m) and Nico Gonzalez (£6.0m) dropped to the bench.
There was a bit of fluidity about City’s system as a result, with Bernardo taking up a deeper midfield role and Omar Marmoush (£7.6m) and Foden positioned on either side of De Bruyne in a narrow front three.
The introduction of Doku further switched it up, but City failed to click and break down United’s defence, despite Marmoush forcing Andre Onana (£4.9m) into a couple of second-half saves.
Elsewhere, Josko Gvardiol (£6.1m) again lined up at centre-half and there were no shots, either. That’s just one in his last seven matches now. He did at least claim the maximum bonus.
As for Foden, he looked low in confidence throughout and was hooked just before the hour mark. It’s worth keeping an ear out for any injury updates, too, as he was spotted limping (mute to block the unsavoury chants) as he headed down the tunnel at Old Trafford. The post-match interviews failed to generate a quote, however.
COMPACT UNITED
The clearest opportunity for a winner fell to United, when substitute Joshua Zirkzee (£6.5m) was denied by Ederson (£5.3m).
Alejandro Garnacho (£5.9m) and Patrick Dorgu (£4.5m) spurned earlier chances, too.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.6m), who started in the front three, looked the most likely to create something, but this was a match where United were happy to sit deep and hit City on the counter. It came at the expense of any real attacking threat, but it at least provided Ruben Amorim with a decent base to work from.
“You can see it, [same] as me, the team is more comfortable. The positions, we can make better connections, we are pushing the opponents sometimes to the last third. We are defending and blocking the talented players like Manchester City have. I think we blocked most of the chances; they didn’t create much. They had the ball, but without danger, so we are improving.” – Ruben Amorim
A quick word on the much-maligned Casemiro (£4.6m), too. It’s now back-to-back starts for the South American, who led by example on Sunday and won 11 tackles, the most made by a single player in the Premier League this season.
In further good news, Luke Shaw (£4.9m) was back on the bench for the first time since December.
JOHNSON SHINES
A first-half brace from Brennan Johnson (£6.2m) and a late Mathys Tel (£5.9m) penalty gave Tottenham a deserved 3-1 win over Southampton in north London.
In truth, it could have been much more, but the result at least gives Spurs some momentum for Thursday’s crunch Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Johnson, who has found himself in and out of the team this season, was superb.
Given the nod over Wilson Odobert (£5.3m) on the right wing, he swept home the first from Djed Spence’s (£4.4m) cut back, before slotting in from James Maddison’s (£7.4m) smart header. He also claimed a late assist to register 18 points.
“It’s tough but I think whenever Brennan plays, he’s always a goal threat. He has been really good for us in terms of goals and, even though I don’t rate them highly, even his assists have been important to us as today he won the penalty. He’s really important for us in the way we play and I don’t think he has been inconsistent this year. The disruptions we’ve had in the team and the ability to get some real cohesion in the group has disrupted everyone this season. It was great for him today, I was really pleased for him, not just the goals but his general play was really good. He’s important for us as a wide player – there aren’t many around that are a constant goal threat like he is. I’m really pleased for him today.
“With Brennan, he’s always in the areas we need him to be. He’s probably one of the most disciplined players we have in terms of making sure he’s always in the right positions and that’s why he gets his goals. There have been times this season when his form has suffered because of the team more than anything else. I think if we play like we played in the first half, Brennan becomes a really important player for us as we’re a constant threat, breaking lines, making half-space runs, we were getting balls into the box in the areas we need to and every time we went forward we looked like scoring. If we do that then I think it’s not a matter of confidence for Brennan, it just gives you more opportunities as the one thing about him is that he will always be in those positions so it’s up to us to match his discipline in that.” – Ange Postecoglou
Richarlison (£6.8m), meanwhile, returned from injury to take his place among the substitutes.
SOUTHAMPTON RELEGATED
It’s official then – Southampton are relegated, which means the Saints are the first team in Premier League history to go down with as many as seven matches of the season remaining.
With Ivan Juric now gone, the only challenge left for this group of players in 2024/25 is to avoid becoming the worst ever top-flight team.
The 2007/08 Derby County side finished with 11 points – one point more than Southampton have now.
As has been the case so often this season, their defending was woeful on Sunday, and you’d never have guessed they needed a win to avoid relegation.
Cameron Archer (£4.9m) replaced Paul Onuachu (£4.9m) up front, who was only fit enough for a place on the subs bench after sustaining an ankle problem against Crystal Palace. They also moved from three at the back to a four, but looked like a beaten team throughout.
The only pair to come out with any credibility were goalscorer Mateus Fernandes (£5.0m) and Aaron Ramsdale (£4.4m), who did what was asked of him and made a couple of big saves.
Next up for Southampton: high-flying Aston Villa in Gameweek 32.
