Our Scout Notes from Wednesday night continue, as we focus on the Manchester City v Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace v Aston Villa draws, including why Nico O’Reilly (5.3m) was benched.
WHY GUARDIOLA BENCHED O’REILLY
Injuries to Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m), Ruben Dias (£5.7m) and John Stones (£5.4m) forced Pep Guardiola to give a debut to 20-year-old academy product Max Alleyne (£4.5m), just days after he was recalled from his loan at Watford.
He partnered Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.4m) at the back.
Nathan Ake (£5.3m) was also recalled to play at left-back at the expense of O’Reilly, with the England international given a much-needed breather.
“We have a lot of absences in central defenders. Nico O’Reilly in the last week has a lot of problems with fatigue and niggles. That’s why we bring him [Alleyne] back.” – Pep Guardiola
Ake was replaced by O’Reilly on 73 minutes.
Alleyne performed well for the most part, despite the fact that City allowed five ‘Opta’ big chances.
FODEN SUBBED
City racked up 22 shots and seven (!) big chances, but lacked the required ruthlessness in front of goal.
Erling Haaland (£15.1m) accounted for eight of those attempts, marking the highest number he has achieved in a single match all season, and successfully converted a penalty in the first half.
He later missed two big chances, however, and there is a possibility that he may lose his bonus point later on.
As for Phil Foden (£8.8m), he created a couple of chances for his teammates but failed to register a shot and has now blanked in five successive matches.
Recently, he’s looked nowhere near the level he displayed in November/early December, and that’s despite occupying his preferred role on the right of the midfield three against Brighton. He can consequently have no complaints about being hooked on 72 minutes.
Instead, Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) was City’s liveliest attacker, winning the first-half penalty for Haaland to convert.
Rayan Cherki (£6.8m), meanwhile, was a substitute, but his introduction off the bench sparked an improvement in City’s performance, having produced four shots and four chances created in only 23 minutes of football. Based on Wednesday’s display, he’ll be pushing hard for a recall in the upcoming Manchester derby.
“I liked a lot the way we played, a lot! Many new players and many good things but we don’t score goals. It’s too many clear chances and it’s not just one, two, three players, it’s all the people up front – we created a lot.
“And unfortunately, we could not score, and scoring goals is part of doing your job. We played exceptionally well. We did very good things, defensively the team is incredibly committed, defending really good with everyone. But we created a lot, chances in the six-yard box, and we could not score. Not just today, not just one player, it’s everyone!” – Pep Guardiola
MITOMA MAGIC
Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1m) demonstrated his importance to Brighton on Wednesday by netting a superb equaliser, driving his shot into the bottom-right corner.
In his first start since September, the Japanese winger also struck the post from close-range, in a performance full of skill and swagger down the left flank.
He hasn’t yet returned to peak physical condition either.
“We all know that he can make the difference in a game, that he can be a game-changer. He is still not at 100%, but we need to push him to 100%, we need to get him involved more and more into our game. We need to give him time, but I think in the second half he showed that he gets back on track and that he tries to get back on track as quick as possible. But we have to be patient with him and then we all know what impact he can have on our game.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Kaoru Mitoma
Elsewhere, Pascal Gross (£5.5m) made his first start since returning from Borussia Dortmund, partnering Yasin Ayari (£4.8m) in central midfield, while Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) was deployed ‘out-of-position’ on the right wing.
The Turkish international found himself in some very decent positions, shooting directly at Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.7m), and has now started 17 Premier League matches in a row.
MARTINEZ INJURY LATEST/RICHARDS SUB
Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) was subbed off at half-time at Selhurst Park due to a calf injury.
The Argentina international was replaced by Marco Bizot (£4.2m), with Aston Villa subsequently keeping their first clean sheet since Gameweek 13.
“He has a small injury. A small injury. I am not a doctor, but it is in his calf. He played fantastic in the first half, and then Marco Bizot also played fantastic in the second half. Now we will check him with the doctor and hopefully in a few days or weeks he will come back ready to play.” – Unai Emery on Emiliano Martinez
In better news, Pau Torres (£4.3m) was back on the bench for the visitors after injury.
In a match low on quality in the final-third, Ollie Watkins (£8.7m) directed a header onto the post but struggled to find space against Palace’s trio of centre-halves, two of whom banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points: Maxence Lacroix (£5.1m) and Jaydee Canvot (£4.5m).
Morgan Rogers (£7.6m), who started on the left, also sent a late shot over the bar.
As for Palace, Oliver Glasner’s injury-hit squad spurned several opportunities, with the lively Brennan Johnson (£6.5m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) coming close, but a draw was probably a fair result.
Chris Richards (£4.4m), meanwhile, made his return but was only fit enough for the bench.
“We had 12-and-a-half fit players today. Because Chris Richards just had yesterday’s training session and that was the first time he was wearing his boots in the last two weeks.” – Oliver Glasner
