We’ve been working our way through heaps of midweek football in our last few Scout Notes instalments, with wins for Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur the latest to go under the microscope.
Here are the major talking points from both of those Carabao Cup games from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) standpoint.
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TUESDAY’S RESULTS
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | Huddersfield Town (a) | 2-0 win | Foden, Savinho | Mukasa, Foden |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Doncaster Rovers (h) | 3-0 win | Palhinha, McGrath OG, Johnson | Odobert, Bergvall |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW5 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 9 | O’Reilly (76), Foden (77) | Trafford (90), Ake (90), Stones (90), Nunes (90), Lewis (90), Bobb (90), Mukasa (90), Savinho (83), Gonzalez (83), J. Heskey (14), Reijnders (13), R. Heskey (7), Phillips (7) |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | Porro (90), Bentancur (90), Palhinha (90), Odobert (61) | Kinsky (90), Danso (90), Gray (90), Johnson (90), Tel (87), Spence (75), Simons (61), Bergvall (29), Richarlison (29), Udogie (15) |
RESURGENT FODEN
Phil Foden (£8.0m) continued his fine run of form with a goal and assist at Huddersfield on Wednesday evening, in a match which marked the England international’s fourth straight start in all competitions and also took his tally of goal involvements in that time to four (two goals, two assists).
The 25-year-old had a quiet outing against Arsenal in Gameweek 5 but was one of just two players, alongside left-back Nico O’Reilly (£4.9m), to keep his starting spot from the weekend.
Foden’s opener was well-taken: a low, driven shot – one of three he took in the match – across goal from outside the box following a cute one-two with teenage academy player Divine Mukasa (£4.5m), who managed six shots on his debut up front on Wednesday in the absence of Erling Haaland (£14.3m).
City’s second goal, meanwhile, came when a bit of pinball action on the edge of Huddersfield’s penalty area ended with Foden; he quickly picked out Savinho (£6.9m) in space to his left and let his teammate do the rest from a tough angle.
These were Savinho’s first meaningful minutes of the season following recent substitute appearances as he worked his way back from injury.
“Phil playing behind the striker is a real threat. We would have liked to score a second goal and make the substitutions before for Nico O’Reilly and Phil because they played a tough game against Arsenal three days ago. But they are young. They have good vitamins during the days, good food, good protein and yeah, now come back to Manchester to prepare [for Burnley].
“We have seen already Phil in a few games when the team play better. When every player makes his potential – but it’s not just today – the games against Arsenal, United and Napoli he was really good. Close to the box, I think he plays in the pockets perfectly. He plays a little bit freer and close to the box he gives you something unique.
“I’m not a guy who likes to play three games with the same players, but I wanted a bit of consistency of patterns and routine for the players. I prefer a rotated team and today was perfect for many players – Oscar played good, Savinho played good, and all of them were aggressive, without the ball we were really good winning duels so in terms of that I’m really satisfied.” – Pep Guardiola
LEWIS IN MIDFIELD, DEFENSIVE ROTATION
Elsewhere, a rest for Rodri (£6.4m) plus benchings for Tijjani Reijnders (£5.6m) – who eventually replaced Foden – and Bernardo Silva (£6.4m) meant a shift at the base of midfield was required of Rico Lewis (£5.0m). There’s probably little chance of that happening regularly unless injuries occur, but it did show the 20-year-old’s versatility.
With Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.4m) out for a few games, Lewis might instead be more likely to compete for the right-back spot, which Matheus Nunes (£5.3m) was handed against Huddersfield. He’s also an option on the opposite flank, but O’Reilly – who had a decent chance to score on Wednesday but saw his chipped effort saved – appears to be the preferred deputy there in Rayan Ait-Nouri’s (£5.9m) absence.
Ruben Dias (£5.5m), Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m) and Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.6m) were all rested after a dogged defensive display at the Emirates, with the former an unused sub and the latter two missing from the matchday squad, so it’s at least pretty clear who Guardiola fancies as the best spine of his defence.
PORRO REST INCOMING?
Down in north London, meanwhile, there was another victory to nil for Tottenham – their fifth in seven games in all competitions under Thomas Frank this season.
Stand-in goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky (£4.0m) had to poke one shot onto his post, but Doncaster offered little else against an opponent two divisions above them.
Pedro Porro (£5.6m) – who notably had four shots, a match-high alongside Rodrigo Bentancur (£5.4m) – was the only Spurs defender to keep his place from the weekend, with Djed Spence (£4.5m) resuming left-back duties and Destiny Udogie (£4.4m) getting the final quarter of an hour there. Could it be Porro’s turn for a breather in Gameweek 6 as the three-way full-back rotation continues?
Micky van de Ven (£4.7m) was an unused sub and Cristian Romero (£5.1m) was absent entirely, leaving Kevin Danso (£4.3m) clear for his first start of the campaign in central defence, where he was partnered by… Joao Palhinha (£5.5m)!
While you could be forgiven for thinking that a shift in the backline would diminish the attacking threat of Spurs’ second-highest volume midfielder shooter in the league so far this season, it was Palhinha who opened the scoring against Doncaster with an overhead kick!
“Very happy. He has been very good for us since he joined. Again, just stepping into that centre-back role and played very well and scored a very good goal. So, yeah, pleased.” – Thomas Frank on Joao Palhinha
XAVI STARTS, KUDUS RESTED, SARR INJURY
It was Xavi Simons’ (£7.1m) early corner that looked to have been cleared by Doncaster before Palhinha’s acrobatic effort.
Simons lasted an hour and created seven chances before being replaced by Lucas Bergvall (£5.4m), who has emerged as a genuine first-team option in light of his recent performances. The young Swede registered another goal involvement on Wednesday as his well-weighted through ball found Brennan Johnson (£7.0m) – starting on the right wing in place of the rested Mohammed Kudus (£6.6m) to make it a decisive 3-0 at the very end. Bergvall had earlier seen a goal of his own ruled out for offside.
With Simons deployed on the left of what looked to be a relatively flat midfield three, Wilson Odobert (£5.3m) started his second match in a row on the left wing. He wasn’t overly convincing against Brighton but did force an own goal for Spurs’ second here, when his tricky dribble to the byline culminated in a cross that was turned in by one of Doncaster’s own.
Pape Matar Sarr (£5.0m), meanwhile, missed out with a minor thigh issue.
“It was a minor precaution. A minor, how can you say… a little stretch to the thigh, so we didn’t want to take any risks today. There is a good chance that he could be ready for Saturday.” – Thomas Frank on Pape Matar Sarr
RICHARLISON IN POLE POSITION FOR GAMEWEEK 6
Leading the line, meanwhile, was FPL midfielder Mathys Tel (£6.3m). There was little evidence on show to suggest that he is a better option than the man who replaced him around the hour mark.
Richarlison (£6.7m) didn’t have much to do after he came on, but the Brazilian has been Spurs’ most regular striker so far this season, starting all but one match. A rest in midweek should ensure a Gameweek 6 start.
Further potentially encouraging news for any FPL managers looking to punt on Richarlison for his appealing short-term fixtures is that his other positional rivals, Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) and Randal Kolo Muani (£7.0m), were missing entirely. They’re back in training but if either of them were ready to start – ahead of Richarlison – anytime soon, then this match seemed like it would have been a good opportunity for some much-needed gametime.
As it stands, then, it would appear that Richarlison should be in pole position for another start up front at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 6, unless Frank throws us a curveball.
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