After a near-flawless week for Premier League sides in the Champions League, we now move our Scout Notes magnifying glass towards the major Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Thursday night.
Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest took part in the Europa League and Conference League.
- READ MORE: Tuesday notes – Reijnders benched + Gyokeres ends goal drought
- READ MORE: Wednesday notes – Isak injury + will Guiu start in Gameweek 9?
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
| Team | Opponent | Competition | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | Go Ahead Eagles (a) | Europa League | 2-1 loss | Guessand | |
| Nottingham Forest | Porto (h) | Europa League | 2-0 win | Gibbs-White (pen), Jesus (pen) | Savona |
| Crystal Palace | AEK Larnaca (h) | Conference League | 1-0 loss |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | Changes from GW8’s starting XI | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other notable players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | 7 | Martinez (90), Pau (90), Guessand (90), Onana (66) | Buendia (90), Watkins (67), Sancho (67), Cash (29), Rogers (29), Malen (28), McGinn (19) |
| Nottingham Forest | 3 | Sels (90), Murillo (90), Milenkovic (90), Williams (90), Gibbs-White (90), Anderson (90), Douglas Luiz (85), Zinchenko (45) | Ndoye (90), Hudson-Odoi (90), Igor Jesus (90) |
| Crystal Palace | 3 | Henderson (90), Munoz (90), Guehi (90), Lacroix (90), Mitchell (90), Mateta (90), Sarr (87), Yeremy (71) | Hughes (87), Nketiah (36), Wharton (25) |
CLEAN SHEET START FOR DYCHE
With Chris Wood (£7.2m) missing out due to an ongoing knee issue, Igor Jesus (£5.8m) led the line for Forest in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge.
He replaced Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.2m) in one of three changes from Ange Postecoglou’s defeat to Chelsea. Here, Dyche opted for a 4-2-3-1, featuring a midfield pivot of Douglas Luiz (£5.0m) and Elliot Anderson (£5.3m) behind Dan Ndoye (£5.8m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.3m) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.9m).
The latter had been a Premier League substitute ever since Postecoglou’s first match in charge. While this midweek start suggests he’s got the new boss’ backing, Sunday’s trip to Bournemouth might be more indicative of his long-term role under Dyche.
Meanwhile, James McAtee (£5.2m) and Arnaud Kalimuendo (£6.0m) were recalled to the matchday group but remained unused substitutes. Fellow summer signing Dilane Bakwa (£6.0m) had an unspecified injury, as Omari Hutchinson’s (£5.4m) absence is about him not being named in their Europa League squad.
Forest’s reversion to a back four also resulted in their first clean sheet since April. Is this an early sign that hiring another manager renowned for defensive compactness could spark a Forest rejuvenation?
IS GIBBS-WHITE ON PENALTIES?
In attack, both goals came from 12 yards out. When ex-Southampton defender Jan Bednarek handled the ball, up stepped Gibbs-White to bury the penalty. This suggests the playmaker is first in line when Wood isn’t around.
Of course, it’s too early to go all-in on Gibbs-White, as the New Zealander has an excellent record from the spot. But injury and the form of other strikers could keep Wood out of the lineup, boosting his colleague’s credentials.
- READ MORE: FPL Penalty and Set-Piece Takers
Jesus is one of these alternatives, and his penalty looked like a Chelsea-esque confidence-boosting handover from Gibbs-White. This came after a foul on Nicolo Savona (£4.5m) inside the area.
Still, stepping up and slotting the kick can only be a good thing for his own chances of game time. Wood turns 34 next month and, while he was impressively prolific last season, it makes sense for the new gaffer to assess his long-term options.
GUESSAND’S FIRST GOAL
In the Netherlands, Aston Villa’s latest visit got off to a dream start when new arrival Evan Guessand (£6.3m) pounced on a fourth-minute rebound to poke home his first goal for the club.
It’s unclear whether FPL would have awarded an assist to Jadon Sancho (£5.9m) for that one. His cross forced the save from which Guessand prodded home. We’ll talk about the Manchester United loanee shortly.
The Ivory Coast attacker has yet to fully settle in, but this could help his confidence, as should being one of just four players to keep their place from the weekend. Then again, it’s also worth noting that Guessand was benched in the league after his previous full midweek run-out.
BUENDIA’S HIGH-TO-LOW WEEK
Emiliano Buendia’s (£5.3m) starring substitute performance in Sunday’s comeback victory over Tottenham saw him rewarded with a starting spot on Thursday, as the number 10 in a heavily-rotated Villa 4-2-3-1. Fellow Gameweek 8 goal scorer Morgan Rogers (£6.8m) moved to the bench.
However, when it came time for the Argentine to step up on this occasion, his penalty went into the stands.
Had Buendia scored, it would have tied the game with 10 minutes to go, after the plucky Eagles twice took advantage of Villa’s high line. Instead, Unai Emery’s men saw their five-match winning streak halted, and they must now regroup before Manchester City come to town.
In more team news, Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) remained unused, and there were Rogers, Donyell Malen (£5.1m) and John McGinn (£5.4m) cameos. Left-back had Ian Maatsen (£4.3m) over Lucas Digne (£4.5m), as the Frenchman sustained a gash on his ankle against Spurs.
EMERY ON VILLA’S PENALTIES
Shockingly, Villa have missed seven of their last 13 penalties in all competitions. And that’s not even counting the shootout loss that saw them dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford.
Of the six that were successful, the only taker still at the club is Watkins – and even he has a 50% record during that period. Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Jhon Duran have all departed.
Youri Tielemans (£5.9m), currently sidelined with a calf injury, does have a net positive career spot kick record. But the Belgian – whether due to his absence, or the missing of two from three penalties for club and country – was not mentioned in Emery’s post-match shortlist of possible takers.
Interestingly, neither was Watkins. He’s failed with four of his last eight. The England international had been substituted by the time Buendia stepped up, so we’ll never know if he would have taken it instead.
“Today the responsibility was for Emiliano Buendía. And normally he has good numbers shooting penalties, but he missed. Of course, something can happen, and we will try to get more clinical in the penalty shoot than the last penalties we have had.
“Our takers are clear. Buendía was today, [Jadon] Sancho, John McGinn, Morgan [Rogers] as well can shoot penalties. And, of course, Emiliano [Buendia] can repeat, but the idea is to try to be so, so responsible about the decision and about the takers who can score.” – Unai Emery on Aston Villa’s penalty situation
So it sounds like the next taker is either McGinn, Sancho, Rogers or possibly Buendia again.
But a couple of these aren’t nailed-on starts and, despite Emery’s opening comment about his “good numbers”, this was only the second time Buendia has been tasked with a penalty. Sancho hasn’t done so since being unsuccessful in the European Championship final, four years ago.
As for the 2018 signing McGinn, he’s never taken an in-game penalty for Villa, but missed in the Brentford shootout.
This brings us to Rogers. He is slightly more assured of Premier League game time than McGinn. Both have started all eight matches, but the 23-year-old lasted the full 90 in all but one, whereas McGinn often comes off.
Rogers also has minimal penalty experience, with two of his three coming between 2018 and 2019. Yet to take one for Villa, he did score his most recent effort last year for England Under-21s.
MORE MATETA CHANCES BUT PALACE BLANK
Elsewhere, Crystal Palace huffed and puffed but couldn’t find a way past the resolute AEK Larnaca defence. They fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Selhurst Park.
Despite dominating possession and corners, racking up 15 attempts compared to their visitors’ four, only one shot was on target.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) hit the woodwork, unable to replicate Gameweek 8’s hat-trick heroics. He also headed a free-kick wide in the first half and forced a point-blank save in the second.
It meant that the Cypriot side’s 51st-minute goal – which came after a slack pass from Jaydee Canvot (£4.5m) gifted possession to Marcus Rohden, who promptly teed up Riad Bajic – proved to be the winner.
FROM UNBEATEN TO WINLESS
After their 19-game unbeaten run in all competitions, this marked Palace’s third game without a win following Saturday’s thrilling draw against Bournemouth and the last-gasp defeat to Everton.
Oliver Glasner’s men are by no means in crisis mode, as they’re three points off second-placed Man City.
But it’s worth noting that this was a relatively strong starting XI. Canvot over Chris Richards (£4.5m) was the sole change to an otherwise first-choice backline. The only other tweaks came in midfield, where Will Hughes (£4.9m) and Jefferson Lerma (£4.9m) started over Adam Wharton (£5.0m) and Daichi Kamada (£5.0m).
As well as tightening his defence, Glasner will need some clinical finishing from the attacking trio of Mateta, Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m) and Yeremy Pino (£5.9m) if Palace are to have any hope of breaking down an Arsenal defence that many see as the Premier League’s best.
After Sunday’s outing comes a midweek Carabao Cup trip to Liverpool. Then it’s a London derby against Brentford, followed by a higher-stakes European meeting with AZ Alkmaar.
