FPL notes: Cunha impact, Son injury + Bradley impresses

Matheus Cunha (£6.8m) made his eagerly anticipated return from suspension on Sunday, as Wolverhampton Wanderers recorded a fourth straight Premier League win.

Liverpool, meanwhile, moved a step closer to the Premier League title with a dramatic 2-1 victory over West Ham United.

Here are the main Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Molineux and Anfield.

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CUNHA RETURNS

Matheus Cunha scored on his return from suspension at Molineux.

The Brazilian, who served a four-match ban for the red card he received in the FA Cup defeat to Bournemouth, climbed off the bench in the 70th minute and marked the occasion with a goal, robbing Lucas Bergvall (£4.4m) of possession before slotting home.

There has been a lot of noise about Cunha off the pitch recently, but his quality on the ball isn’t in question.

Indeed, he’s now produced 14 goals and four assists in just 24 starts this season.

“He knows his quality, he knows the team was playing good games and winning [without him], in the right moment that we need him he said ‘yes I am here to help the team’.” – Vitor Pereira on Matheus Cunha

Cunha also banked more bonus points yet again. Even though he has made just 24 starts, Chris Wood (£6.9m) is the only forward who has more bonus points to their name in 2024/25.

On Sunday, Cunha earned 38 points for his positive actions in the BPS, thanks in part to two key passes, three successful dribbles and three ball recoveries.

• EXPLORE: All the Opta player and team stats from Wolves 4-2 Tottenham

Towering forward Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.4m) also impressed, registering four shots and two big chances, and has now found the net in four consecutive Premier League games, a period which has seen him average 8.5 points per match.

IN-FORM WOLVES/SON INJURY UPDATE

Sunday’s clash at Molineux highlighted two teams on opposite trajectories.

Vitor Pereira has won 26 points since taking over at Wolves in Gameweek 17, winning eight of his 16 Premier League games in charge.

With a talented squad at his disposal, including Emmanuel Agbadou (£4.0m), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m), who scored and assisted on Sunday, Joao Gomes (£4.9m) and Strand Larsen, plus consistency in his selection, it’s exciting to think what Pereira could potentially achieve with a full pre-season under his belt.

Before then, Wolves host strugglers Leicester City in Gameweek 34, with Free Hit usage set to see a spike in their assets’ popularity.

As for Tottenham, it’s all a bit of a mess.

They scored through Mathys Tel (£5.8m), who was a rare bright spark from his left wing position, and substitute Richarlison (£6.8m), but it was an error-strewn display, with Spurs’ focus seemingly on the UEFA Europa League, which remains their only hope of success this season.

The club sits a lowly 15th in the Premier League, while only the current bottom three – Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich Town – have lost more games in 2024/25 (17).

On the injury front, Dejan Kulusevski (£6.2m) did at least return as a substitute in Gameweek 32 and should now get further minutes in Frankfurt on Thursday.

Ange Postecoglou also discussed Son Heung-min (£9.8m) and Wilson Odobert (£5.3m) in his post-match interview, who missed out in Gameweek 32.

“It was good for Deki, Richarlison and Matty Tel to get minutes. That will be important on Thursday night, for sure. It was really good to get decent minutes into them and they all felt really good.

“Sonny got a knock and no point in him travelling today and with Wilson, as I said before, I was just managing him, but the whole idea was hopefully managing him so he can be right for Thursday night.” – Ange Postecoglou

LIVERPOOL EDGE CLOSER TO TITLE

Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) headed home a late winner as Liverpool edged closer to the Premier League title on Sunday.

The Reds are now 13 points clear of Arsenal with six games remaining, meaning they could be crowned champions as early as next weekend.

At Anfield, it wasn’t a vintage performance from Arne Slot’s side, but they still got the job done.

In his first match since he signed a new two-year contract, Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) produced a superb assist for Luis Diaz’s (£7.5m) opener, with a beautifully weighted pass with the outside of his left boot.

The Egyptian failed to get on the scoresheet (he’s now gone five league games without a goal from open play), but instead, his creativity came to the fore, with two big chances created.

Diaz, meanwhile, ended this clash through the middle and has now produced either a goal or assist in each of his last five matches:

As for Darwin Nunez (£7.0m), he missed out after feeling unwell on Saturday.

ALISSON + BRADLEY IMPRESS

Arne Slot made four alterations to his starting XI, with Alisson Becker (£5.5m) and Conor Bradley (£4.7m) among those recalled.

Both players impressed, with the return of Alisson particularly key, as the Brazilian made some big saves to deny Carlos Soler (£5.0m) and Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m).

“We needed Alisson because Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus were incredible, the whole game but especially in the second half. Scoring immediately shows you how much mentality these boys have.

“Second half they made it much more difficult for us because they brought so many players into the midfield. Kudus started to run everywhere and he was almost uncontrollable for us and that led to chances because they also have Jarrod Bowen – a player that can run in behind. That made it really hard for us but Alisson saved for us multiple times.” – Arne Slot

Bradley also deserves credit.

This was the right-back’s first start since Gameweek 24, but he looked at ease throughout, making several dangerous underlapping runs, crucially creating space for Salah.

Understandably withdrawn on 67 minutes as he continues to be managed on his return from injury, Bradley even banked four clean sheet points and scooped the maximum bonus, having departed well before Liverpool conceded.

Next up – a trip to Leicester.

West Ham also face promoted opposition in Gameweek 33 in the form of Southampton.

They improved after going behind at Anfield and actually created four big chances in total, two more than Liverpool, with Mohammed Kudus’ (£6.2m) curling effort hitting the bar.

At the other end of the pitch, Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) made four saves and generally performed well, suggesting he should get another start in Gameweek 33, despite some recent iffy form.

“We are disappointed not to get anything from the game but the performance is probably the strongest we’ve had since we’ve been here. We’ve given a top team, the best team, a real game today.” – Graham Potter

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