Our next Gameweek 12 Scout Notes come from Elland Road, where Morgan Rogers (£6.8m) netted a brace as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Leeds United.
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ROGERS’ GOAL THREAT
Aston Villa moved up to fourth place in the table on Sunday, having won six out of their last seven Premier League matches.
Rogers has produced five attacking returns in that spell, and he certainly stole the show at Elland Road, with his brace and subsequent 15-point haul his best-ever Fantasy return.
His first goal, a neat finish in the six-yard box, was followed by a superb free-kick 15 minutes from time.
“The manager’s always banging on at me to get into the box. That’s where the goals are scored. Sometimes I’m hesitant to go in. I went in and just kind of reacted to the ball. I’m lucky I could get a toe on it. I was really happy with that one.” – Morgan Rogers
Discussing his overall impact, Unai Emery later said:
“Through numbers it is more brilliant and really relevant, his work today. His impact was positive with goals. Always he plays well. He does his task and he is versatile across different positions. Maybe today he showed that he is angry to score. Being angry, he scored two goals, focusing on how he could get numbers. He did it, helping the team and for our victory today.
“He is a player who can get numbers. Last year he got double numbers for goals and assists. This year I think he will get this again. He was playing fantastic before this match, not getting numbers, but helping the team. With those goals today, it’s more brilliant. I think Morgan is very important when he is scoring and when he is not scoring. He is working tactically, being versatile, and performing very consistently.” – Unai Emery on Morgan Rogers, via the Birmingham Mail
MALEN IMPACT/WATKINS POOR
With Leeds dominant in the first half (more on that later), Emery made a double substitution at the break, with Ian Maatsen (£4.2m) and Donyell Malen (£5.1m) replacing Lucas Digne (£4.5m) and Emiliano Buendia (£5.3m).
And the changes instantly paid off, with Rogers flicking Malen’s low cross into the back of the net.
Malen was an excellent outlet down the right for Villa and caused Leeds plenty of problems, something Daniel Farke referenced in his post-match presser.
“We gave away very little today but the two decisive moments, we were also unfortunate with some decisions but could have done better with our left side for both goals.
“We concede a few too many from our left side and this shouldn’t happen. So 47th minute, we’re not tired, it was a dead ball situation, we should have organised better instead of being overplayed and allowing a cutback situation.” – Daniel Farke
As for Ollie Watkins (£8.5m), he had a few opportunities, with a curling first-half effort drifting just wide of the post, but this was another match in which he failed to look sharp enough.
Replaced at 67 minutes, he remains on one league goal for the season.
Elsewhere, Youri Tielemans (£5.9m) made his first start since returning from injury, replacing Amadou Onana (£4.8m), who picked up a knock while on international duty with Belgium.
WHY STACH WAS SUBBED OFF
Anton Stach (£4.8m) hobbled off the pitch after only 23 minutes on Sunday, having previously supplied the assist for Lukas Nmecha’s (£5.0m) early opener.
It turned out to be a concussion sub, however, after he injured himself challenging Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) in the build-up to the goal.
The German will now undergo tests that are expected to clarify whether a concussion has been suffered, with an update from Farke anticipated later this week.
Jack Harrison (£5.1m), meanwhile, was left out of the squad entirely.
FIVE DEFEATS IN SIX FOR LEEDS
With five losses in six matches, a run which has seen Leeds concede 13 goals, the pressure is clearly ramping up on Farke.
Regrettably for him, they next visit Manchester City on Saturday.
Here, Farke made just one change to his starting XI, with Pascal Struijk (£4.4m) in for Jaka Bijol (£3.9m) at the back.
In an impressive first half, they didn’t give Villa an inch and took an early lead through Nmecha, after an attempted clearance struck the forward and rebounded in. They failed to sustain that intensity and pressure, however, having used up a serious amount of energy in the first 45 minutes.
As for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m), he was sent on after 70 minutes and thought he had an equaliser, but replays showed the ball had clearly struck his hand before crossing the line.
Jayden Bogle (£4.5m) performed very well at right-back, while Joe Rodon (£4.1m) produced defensive contribution (DefCon) points for the second time in four matches.
Like Rodon, Ethan Ampadu (£4.9m) banked DefCon but did collect his fourth booking of the season.
