We continue the Gameweek 25 Scout Notes with another of Saturday’s matches: Fulham 1-2 Everton.

WHY BRANTHWAITE WAS BENCHED

The fit-again Vitaliy Mykolenko (£4.5m) was straight back into the starting XI for Everton on Saturday.

It meant a swift end to David Moyes’ four-centre-halves-at-the-back set-up of Gameweek 24.

But it was Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.3m), not Michael Keane (£4.7m), who made way. Keane was reportedly going to be the fall guy last week before Mykolenko picked up a late injury.

Moyes explained his reasoning after the win at Craven Cottage.

“We had to manage his minutes, with being out for the best part of seven or eight months, I don’t know how long it is. So, we played him [for] the most part last week, because he played 45 [minutes against Leeds] as well, and it was a quick turnaround from Monday to Saturday. We were just a bit concerned that we don’t push him too soon.

“No, there’ll be no problem for him Tuesday – or I don’t believe so, no.” – David Moyes on Jarrad Branthwaite

That last line introduced an element of doubt for Gameweek 26. Does Moyes change a winning side, albeit one that didn’t look too watertight (in the first half especially)? Or does he reintroduce his most gifted centre-back at the expense of an unlucky teammate – possibly Keane?

RAUL AT RISK AS MUNIZ RETURNS

Raul Jimenez (£6.2m) has ticked over in the most unspectacular manner over the last few months. He’s delivered 10 returns in his last 18 starts, never getting more than one goal or assist in a match. The Mexican has yet to hit a double-digit haul in 2025/26.

His latest return was both a big chance spurned and an assist. He somehow contrived to miss an Alex Iwobi (£6.3m) pass but Jordan Pickford‘s (£5.6m) parry then bounced in off the luckless Mykolenko.

Jimenez has had an unbroken run of starts because of the long absence of Rodrigo Muniz (£5.3m) – but the Brazilian forward is now back.

Muniz made his comeback from injury late on Saturday, replacing Raul. Unsurprisingly, the Mexican hasn’t had this few minutes in a match (74) since early December.

“It’s going to be important for sure. I see many people excited about it but I think it is a normal thing. If you have a senior striker on the bench, I think is normal.

“The not normal thing was the last two, three months for us. The way we played and the way we were without solutions there, that is the not the normal thing.” – Marco Silva on Rodrigo Muniz’s return

Anyone considering Raul for the following fixture run (there may not have been many!) may have to reconsider.

DEWSBURY-“HAULS” IN A GAME OF TWO HALVES

It feels like anyone from 7th to 16th is capable of beating each other. This hard-to-call game proved to be suitably knife-edge; Fulham the better team before the break, Everton after it.

While Jake O’Brien (£4.9m) nodded against the post early on, it was otherwise all Fulham until half-time. After the opener, Samuel Chukwueze (£5.3m) drew a superb save from Pickford, Emile Smith Rowe (£5.6m) and Chukwueze both hit the bar, Jimenez dragged another huge opportunity wide and Smith Rowe couldn’t beat Pickford from eight yards. Even after the break, Jimenez was inches from a tap-in from a Chukwueze pass.

You might be thinking, Stan Valcheck-style: “I’m not hearing Harry Wilson‘s (£6.1m) name in here anywhere”. This was one of his quieter displays but then he’s always been more of a ‘magic moments’ player than all-around contributor. Even on Saturday, he could have returned despite anonymity: he fired over a 40th-minute effort, was a Raul pass away from a very likely goal (the Mexican shot wide instead) and would have bagged an assist had Chukwueze shot from the edge of the six-yard box rather than attempted to square it.

Everton have a budget midfielder of their own who rivals Wilson for points per start this season:

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£4.9m) looked a threat on his first post-injury start last week and he followed up on that by ghosting into the Fulham box to meet Mykolenko’s low centre and restore parity.

A lot of Everton’s menace otherwise came from set plays, with DefCon-gobbling James Garner (£5.2m) and Dewsbury-Hall whipping the balls in. The latter’s corner was punched into his own net by Bernd Leno (£4.9m), handing the budget midfielder his ninth return of 2025/26.

Garner, meanwhile, has now delivered DefCon points in nine of the last 10 Gameweeks!

On the subject of DefCon, James Tarkowski (£5.8m) oddly recorded just three contributions this week. One to monitor – but the last time he did that, he then went on a seven-match DefCon run…

Joachim Andersen (£4.6m) was one contribution short of DefCon points for the second time in four Gameweeks, meanwhile.