Two more Sunday matches to look back on now as we reflect on Brentford 1-1 Leeds United and Nottingham Forest 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur, including another goal for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m).
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 16: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Doku injury, Haaland + Foden haul, Cherki’s assists
FOUR IN FOUR FOR CALVERT-LEWIN
Dominic Calvert-Lewin rescued a point for Leeds on Sunday, scoring his fourth goal in as many Gameweeks.
In a match largely devoid of any real quality, the budget forward made a crucial contribution, glancing home a trademark header from substitute Wilfried Gnonto’s (£5.2m) delivery.
Calvert-Lewin has now produced 31 points over the last four Gameweeks, the joint-most of any forward.
He’s also found the net with all four of his Opta-defined ‘big chances’ during that period.
“I’m feeling good, the performances are speaking for themselves at the moment. Feeling good, feeling healthy, this is the fittest I’ve been in a long time. I’ve worked extremely hard to get in this position.
“When you get a certain narrative around you and tarred with a brush, it’s hard to shake it. It’s always been about being mentally tough, hanging in there and step by step putting performances together.
“All of a sudden, the tide starts to turn and you start scoring goals. That’s the life of a centre-forward.” – Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin has admittedly looked much better since Daniel Farke switched to a 3-5-2 formation earlier this month.
The German employed the same tactical setup once more against Brentford, before shifting to a 4-3-3 in search of an equaliser, and Leeds largely defended very well, limiting Keith Andrews’s side to just 0.72 expected goals (xG).
Indeed, with three at the back for the most part and the impressive Ethan Ampadu (£4.9m) offering further protection in front, Igor Thiago (£7.0m) failed to register a single attempt on goal.
Instead, Anton Stach (£4.8m) racked up six shots, the second-most of any player in Gameweek 16 so far.
HENDERSON ADVANCED
Jordan Henderson (£5.0m) was the best player on the pitch for Brentford.
With Mikel Damsgaard (£5.8m) benched, the veteran midfielder played further forward than usual and thrived in his new role, firing the hosts ahead with a deflected effort.
“Big for Jordan in a slightly different role. More advanced. Shackles off at times. He took it well with the slight aide of a deflection. Jordan’s experience, knowledge of the game is second to none. He has been an impactful player for us. He has settled into life here really well and he has played a big part. Long may it continue.” – Keith Andrews on Jordan Henderson
Defensively, Brentford may have lost their clean sheet late on, but four of their starting defenders did at least return.
Michael Kayode (£4.5m), Nathan Collins (£4.9m) and Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points (see image below), with Kayode also claiming a share of the bonus.
Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.8m), meanwhile, was substituted off before Brentford conceded.
SPURS SHAMBLES
Tottenham Hotspur were deservedly beaten 3-0, in arguably their worst performance of the season so far.
Second best throughout, they generated only 0.37 xG at the City Ground.
There were further errors at the back, too, with Guglielmo Vicario (£4.9m) at fault for both of Callum Hudson Odoi’s (£5.7m) goals.
After previously showing signs of improvement under Thomas Frank, going unbeaten in three matches across all competitions, the Lilywhites find themselves back at square one as they prepare to host Liverpool in Gameweek 17.
“It was hugely disappointing. It’s burning, annoying. That was a bad performance. Especially first half, overall, we looked disjointed. We didn’t win enough duels. And then we couldn’t hit each other, it seems like we gave the ball away every time we won it back. Of course, the first two goals are two mistakes, that happens.
“We need to work to be more consistent. It’s two steps forward and a step back today. That’s down to individuals. We are in it together, we win together and lose together. It’s hugely irritating that we perform like this today. Simple passing, I think we lose the ball 20 times, simple passes.” – Thomas Frank
As for Pedro Porro (£5.3m), he’s now nearing a ban, having picked up his fourth caution of the season.
DYCHE ON SELS
Matz Sels (£4.7m) missed out for Forest again on Sunday, after failing to recover from the groin issue that meant he was unavailable in midweek.
Sean Dyche said he didn’t want to take any risks with his number one, or Nicolas Dominguez (£5.0m), after the match.
“Unfortunately, he’s got a knee issue [Dominguez]. It’s nothing serious. We’ve had it scanned. His knee blew up with fluid in it. I think it was a cyst on his knee. Because we’ve got these eight days [without a game], we didn’t risk it.
“It was the same with Matz [Sels] – if it goes worse, then that’s a longer period. Dom is the same. We looked at it and said: ‘What do we gain against what do we lose, if it flares up again?’. We just had to be cautious. That has been a really big challenge for me as a manager.” – Sean Dyche
Sels’ replacement, John Victor (£4.0m), has now kept a clean sheet and conceded just one goal in his last two matches while filling in.
As alluded to above, Forest now have a bit of a break before they are next in action against Fulham in Gameweek 17.
Discussing Sels’ prospects of a start in that match, Dyche said:
“We will wait and see how it settles. He certainly has a better chance than if he had played today.
“John [Victor] did brilliant, though. Fair play to him, getting a clean-sheet.” – Sean Dyche
Elsewhere, Hudson-Odoi built on his fine performance in Europe with a 19-point haul, thanks to two goals and an assist.
Ibrahima Sangare (£4.9m) wasn’t far off his tally either (18 points), with a couple of assists and a screamer late on, and will now head off to AFCON.
