Another second-half goal burst made it two home wins in two for Sunderland as they mounted a late comeback to beat Brentford.
From a Fantasy perspective, there were two main talking points for both clubs: who will take penalties going forward and who will start up front?
Here are our Scout Notes from the Stadium of Light.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 3: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Cunha injury, Bruno in the ’10’ + Sesko’s fitness
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Delap injury + Enzo over Pedro on pens
SCHADE ON PENS – OR NOT…?
Owners of Igor Thiago (£6.0m) had a similar day to those who have Joao Pedro (£7.6m) in their squads: the joy of a second Premier League goal of the season but the irritation that he didn’t take his side’s penalty.
Thiago had previously netted from the spot in Gameweek 1 – and that was done with Kevin Schade (£7.0m) on the field.
On Saturday, however, Schade stepped up to take the Bees’ second spot-kick of 2025/26, despite Thiago being present. Almost inevitably, he missed.
There wasn’t much clue from Andrews after full-time whether Schade will still be in the mix going forward, with the Bees’ boss diplomatic in his support of the German.
“The players, since they’ve come back from pre-season, have been practising penalties, so there’s no issue on that. Players will miss penalties, so I’m okay with that.” – Keith Andrews to the BBC
“Bryan [Mbeumo] was the penalty taker since Ivan [Toney] left the building and it’s something we’ve been conscious of for a while. We’ve been practising a lot in training. It can happen. I don’t put any blame on Kevin.” – Keith Andrews to Brentford’s in-house media
AND LE FEE ON PENS – OR NOT…?
Sunderland’s track record from 12 yards last season was abysmal. To cap the bad run off, Eliezer Mayenda (£5.5m) missed from the spot in pre-season.
And so, the responsibility fell to the recalled Enzo Le Fee (£4.9m) when the Black Cats were awarded their latest penalty on Saturday.
As the player himself said after the game, however, it might be Habib Diarra (£5.5m) taking the next one.
“I was sure I would score. We had a discussion with Habib [Diarra], because he wanted to take it as well, but I was sure, so he let me shoot and I scored.
“No, no, no [I am not the first-choice taker]. If we have another one, I will let Habib shoot because he let me shoot today.” – Enzo Le Fee on his penalty
Le Fee had found himself out of the side in the first two Gameweeks but came back into Regis Le Bris’ line-up against Brentford, with Simon Adingra (£5.5m) making way.
Deployed on the left flank, Le Fee hadn’t had a single shot or penalty box touch until his spot-kick.
Diarra, however, had a joint-match-best three shots. He’s the one pushing forward most from central midfield, and he’s Sunderland’s leading player for shots (five) and penalty box touches (eight) this season. It was Diarra who won the penalty that Le Fee scored, indeed.
Above: Habib Diarra’s shotmap in Gameweek 3
WISSA TO STAY – OR NOT…?
Thiago hasn’t got much competition up front at present. Indeed, he’s one of just three FPL forwards to have played all 270 minutes of Premier League football this season.
But could last season’s main man, Yoane Wissa (£7.5m), be back in Gameweek 4 to challenge him?
Andrews thought so when interviewed after the Sunderland game.
“Yeah, I do, yeah. The stance hasn’t changed throughout the whole window. Two days away from the close of it now, thankfully, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel for me. Unless anything’s happened today, I expect Yoane to be a Brentford player come Tuesday.
“Yeah, [he’s been] training, fitness levels will be fine. I don’t see a big issue with him integrating into the group.” – Keith Andrews when asked if he expected Yoane Wissa to still be a Brentford player come September 2
Come Sunday, however, Wissa had had his own say.
Yoane Wissa has released a statement on Instagram regarding his future at Brentford 📲💠pic.twitter.com/84f0CFj1bd
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) August 31, 2025
This is one to watch on deadline day…
THREE-WAY FIGHT BECOMES TWO-WAY
There’s ongoing uncertainty up front for Sunderland, too.
Mayenda has started all three league matches for Sunderland this season but positional rival Wilson Isidor (£5.5m) has outscored him, coming off the bench to net two goals.
The French striker nodded in the winner on Saturday and is very much pressing for a start from Gameweek 4 onwards.
“Yeah, we are always talking about new signings. So I just want to repeat that we have already good players in our squad.” – Regis Le Bris when asked if Wilson Isidor was giving him a welcome selection headache
One forward who won’t be part of the striking equation at Sunderland is the 14%-owned Marc Guiu (£4.4m).
The injury picked up by Liam Delap (£6.4m) on Saturday seems to have had a domino effect, with Chelsea keen to bolster their numbers up top. Part of that reinforcement will, it looks like, see Guiu return to his parent club.
Chelsea have reached agreement with sunderland to recall Marc Guiu #cfc
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) August 31, 2025
Let’s see if Sunderland add to their own strike force on deadline day, having lost Guiu.
THREE OUT OF THREE FOR VAN DEN BERG
This was very nearly a solid Brentford defensive performance in the manner of Gameweek 2.
Up until Sunderland’s 82nd-minute penalty, needlessly given away by substitute Rico Henry (£4.5m), the hosts had mustered just 0.33 xG (StatsBomb):
Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) at least partly compensated with defensive contribution (DC) points. He’s one of just three players to deliver those in all three Gameweeks:
As for the hosts, Nordi Mukiele (£4.0m) was the newest addition to their backline. He replaced the injured Dan Ballard (£4.6m) and bagged DC points on his full Premier League debut.
