Igor Thiago‘s (£6.6m) phenomenal season continued on Saturday as he reached 11 league goals for the campaign.
However, the gloss of a 13-point haul was slightly taken off by a stoppage-time injury scare for the Brazilian striker.
Here are our Scout Notes from Brentford 3-1 Burnley.
THIAGO INJURY SCARE
Yet another penalty took Thiago into double figures for the campaign.
It was his fifth converted spot-kick of 2025/26, which is considerably more than anyone else has registered:
Strip away all his penalties, however, and he’s still on a decent six goals for the season. Only Erling Haaland (£14.9m) and Danny Welbeck (£6.6m), with 14 and seven respectively, can better that.
Against Burnley, Thiago was again more than just spot-kick merchant. Shooting narrowly off-target in the first half (he insists it was deflected), he missed with a 54th-minute header, saw a goal correctly chalked off for offside, then added to his 81st-minute penalty with a predatory second strike shortly after.
But another fine afternoon for the striker was brought to a slightly early end in the 91st minute. After a bit of treatment for what seemed to be a muscle injury, he disappeared straight down the tunnel via a word with Keith Andrews.
And this is what the Brentford boss said after the game to in-house media…
“Not really, just spoke to him after and he said it was precautionary. So, I’ll suss it out when I go back in.” – Keith Andrews, when asked if he had an update on Igor Thiago’s injury
No other questions were posed by the BBC, by Sky or in the post-match presser, while we can’t verify any supposed sightings of the forward on crutches like this one.
We’ll hear from Andrews again before Tuesday’s Gameweek 14 deadline, so we’ll hopefully get an update on the striker then. Given that the next match is away at Arsenal, it may not be a bad game to miss.
DANGO-LING A LEG
Thiago is being helped along the way by Dango Ouattara (£6.0m).
We wrote last week that the winger had won more penalties (three) than any other player in the division this season.
Well, we can now make that four – he was chopped down for Thiago’s late spot-kick on Saturday.
Not content with that assist, he scored an injury-time goal to seal Brentford’s win. He had earlier nodded a Michael Kayode (£4.5m) cross inches wide and now, no FPL midfielder can better him for big chances this season (bear in mind that he’s not taken any penalties, which are classed as big chances, too):
Dango might disappear to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as soon as Gameweek 16, of course, so Thiago and others will have to enjoy him while they can.
The Free Hitters who opted for Kevin Schade (£7.0m) were left cursing their luck. The better bet than Dango for game-time on paper (the German had completed 90 minutes in eight of his last nine matches), he had a bit of a stinker, failed to register a shot, and was hooked in the 75th minute. That was his earliest withdrawal of 2025/26…
MORE DEFCON FOR COLLINS – BUT HAUL ELUDES HIM
Nathan Collins (£4.9m) bagged defensive contribution (DefCon) points for the seventh time in 2025/26 on Saturday.
Collins’ total of 22 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBITs) against Burnley was actually the highest that any defender has managed in a single game this season (thanks to TopMarx for that stat!):
Burnley’s Maxime Esteve (£3.9m) now also has 14 DefCon points for the campaign. Collins’ centre-half partner Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) is on 12.
Collins left some points on the table, however, with two close-range chances going begging:
After nine attacking returns in 2024/25, Collins has yet to break his goal/assist duck this season.
FLEMMING ON PENS
A familiar story for Burnley: admirable stubbornness, a lack of goal threat and a late capitulation. The Clarets have frustrated opposition (Liverpool, Chelsea, both Manchester clubs etc) for long periods this season but wilted each time, and Saturday was another addition to a familiar list.
Scott Parker’s side didn’t have a shot in the box until Zian Flemming‘s (£5.3m) 84th-minute penalty, a spot-kick that arrived out of the blue thanks to a momentary Kayode lapse.
Flemming, who had earlier gone close from distance, now has four goals in his last five starts. That’s some doing in a team as blunt as this.
Hannibal Mejbri (£4.9m) should have earlier shot instead of dived but that was pretty much it from an attacking perspective.
Get those Palace defenders in place for Gameweek 14…
