Two matches at the back-end of the Match of the Day running order to discuss in our Gameweek 17 Scout Notes now.
It’s Bournemouth 1-1 Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion 0-0 Sunderland.
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ESTEVE, WELBECK + VAN HECKE UPDATES
Three of the more popular picks from Brighton and Burnley missed out on their respective matches on Saturday.
Starting with the 11%-owned Maxime Esteve (£3.9m), the hitherto ever-present centre-half was unexpectedly absent for the Clarets’ trip to Bournemouth.
A training ground injury did for him, and while it doesn’t sound serious, managers hoping to use him in Gameweek 18 – on a Bench Boost or otherwise – will be sweating.
“I don’t think it’s too serious, I’m hoping maybe a week or so. We pulled him out of training at the last minute yesterday.” – Scott Parker on Maxime Esteve, via the Burnley Express
As for Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.6m), he also lost his ever-present starter status. We didn’t get much of an update on him, other than Fabian Hurzeler confirming it was an illness. The Argus reports that he’ll return next weekend.
Danny Welbeck‘s (£6.4m) absence was less of a surprise. He was already flagged as a doubt because of a niggling back and ultimately didn’t recover in time.
“We’re in daily exchange with the medical team. The situation didn’t get worse, didn’t get much better the last week. We have to see how we handle it. I think it’s very important that Danny is fully fit; not 80% or 90%, we need him fully fit because Danny is a game-changer for us.
“I think he’s not far away but let’s see the next days.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Danny Welbeck
SUNDERLAND MAKE LIGHT OF AFCON EXITS
Sunderland are the hardest hit of the Premier League clubs when it comes to Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) exits.
Six players have now departed for Morocco, four of whom were in the starting XI for the Tyne-Wear derby. Habib Diarra (£5.3m), who was actually on the bench yesterday as his AFCON exit was delayed, likely would have been another had he been fit.
But the expected drop-off didn’t come at the Amex. We shouldn’t be surprised: this is a well-coached, well-drilled squad that has been more than the sum of its parts all season. The exits weaken them, no doubt, especially in midfield. But the defence remains strong-looking, as it has done since Gameweek 1.
The above image shows how the Black Cats lined up at Brighton, with Chris Rigg (£4.7m) and Simon Adingra (£4.9m) brought in on the flanks, Trai Hume (£4.5m) returning at full-back and Lutsharel Geetruida (£4.5m) playing ‘out of position’ in midfield. Hume and Geertruida have been regulars in this squad anyway in 2025/26, so they’re hardly coming in from the cold.
While there was a late bit of pressure from the hosts, all four of Brighton’s shots on target came from outside the box. Albion created zero Opta-defined ‘big chances’, too.
The Mackems had the better opportunities, indeed. Dan Ballard (£4.6m) and Bryan Brobbey (£5.5m) so very nearly prodded beyond Bart Verbruggen (£4.4m), while Omar Alderete (£4.0m) drew an excellent save with a header.
Ballard and Hume banked DefCon points, too.
ALBION STRUGGLE UP TOP
With van Hecke out and Lewis Dunk (£4.5m) suspended, Brighton fielded Olivier Boscagli (£4.2m) and Diego Coppola (£4.2m) at centre-back. Hurzeler said that he was “pleased with their performances”, so let’s see what he does when Dunk and van Hecke return in Gameweek 18.
Further forward, as discussed above, Brighton carved out little of note. There are two major contributing factors: Georginio Rutter (£5.6m) is clearly not a nine, as he has been playing when Welbeck has been out, while Yankuba Minteh‘s (£6.1m) displays have tailed off.
It might be a case of limping through to January to reinforce up top in the transfer market, but at least Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1m) is back. A second successive half-hour off the bench means a start will likely come soon, and that obviously spells bad news for Maxim De Cuyper’s (£4.3m) ‘out of position’ run-outs.
SEMENYO BACK AT THE SUMMIT + SENESI CREATES
The above xG race chart tells a story, with Bournemouth unable to turn pressure into more than one goal and Burnley ‘doing an Indiana Jones’, i.e., waiting for the fancy sword play to finish before delivering the killer blow through Armando Broja‘s (£5.2m) header. The Clarets hadn’t had a single effort until the 86th minute!
Antoine Semenyo (£7.7m) is, at least briefly, back on top of the midfielder points standings, scoring for the second game in succession. That’s a dozen returns in 16 starts for the winger, who got through 90 minutes yet again. That is certainly part of his appeal at this time of the year, when minute management is rife elsewhere.
Semenyo had had a couple of sighters from the left edge of the area before finding the net in the 67th minute; that was the Cherries’ first shot on target of the game.
David Brooks (£5.0m) was the main culprit when it came to Saturday’s profligacy. He had a game-high six shots, including one excellent close-range chance that he skied.
Looking at the fixtures, it’s not the greatest upcoming run for the out-of-form Cherries, who haven’t won in eight league games. In fact, Iraola’s troops sit bottom of the Fixture Ticker:
Not too many clean sheets for Marcos Senesi (£4.9m) coming up, then, but does it matter? FPL’s leader for DefCon points, he delivered them for the 13th time in 16 games on Saturday. He also should have scored a late header, while something that is less heralded is his excellent distribution from the back: he’s the leading defender for chances created (CC, below) in the last six Gameweeks:
