Sunday brought Manchester City’s first defeat since August, as Aston Villa edged a 1-0 win.
Here are our Scout Notes from Villa Park.
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HAALAND BLANKS
While for many, Aston Villa’s win may have been the main shock, arguably the biggest surprise was that Erling Haaland (£14.7m) came away empty-handed.
Since the start of the season, the Norwegian has racked up an impressive 11 goals and one assist, totalling 85 points – making him FPL’s highest-scoring player.
Before Villa, Haaland had punished every opponent bar one, and entered the fixture in fantastic form.
While he wasn’t completely anonymous during the match, registering three shots on target, including a big chance, it was far from one of his most explosive displays this campaign.
As shown in the screenshot from our Members Area above, this was Haaland’s lowest non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI) number of the campaign.
Next up is a home clash against a Bournemouth side unbeaten in the league since August. Could the Cherries limit Haaland another time, or will things return to normal as he punishes yet another defence?
ASTON VILLA ON THE UP
While it marked Man City’s first defeat since their 2-1 loss in Gameweek 3, it also extended Villa’s unbeaten league run to six matches.
The sole goal came from Matty Cash (£4.6m), who fired a left-footed strike from outside the box. It was the Polish international’s fourth goal of the campaign for club and country. Emiliano Buendía (£5.3m) claimed the assist but had to come off in the 29th minute because of injury.
There’s no clear indication yet of the severity of the issue, but multiple reports suggest he left the stadium on crutches. That’s a worrying sign for Villa, given Buendía’s importance to their recent success, with three goals and two assists in his last six appearances.
Despite Villa’s strong results, forward Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) continues to struggle to find his best form.
The England international has managed just one attacking return all season. At this stage last year, he’d already registered five goals and two assists.
As for Villa’s assets in general, FPL managers will need to see significant improvement from key individuals such as Watkins and Morgan Rogers (£6.8m) before considering investment, even with a promising run of fixtures ahead.
