Continuing the Gameweek 26 Scout Notes is a look at notable Fantasy Premier League (FPL) events from Manchester City v Fulham.
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Bruno G injury update, Thiaw’s goals + Gordon up top
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Bruno blank, West Ham solid + time for Sesko to start?
- READ MORE: Wednesday’s goals, assists, bonus + DefCon points
- READ MORE: Tuesday’s goals, assists, bonus + DefCon points
Although not quite the 5-4 thriller from early December, a few talking points still emerged for FPL managers.
WHY DID HAALAND COME OFF?
Captained by the minority because of Arsenal’s Double Gameweek, Erling Haaland (£14.9m) followed his Anfield 11-pointer by putting Man City 3-0 up here by half-time.
However, the Norwegian didn’t emerge after the break. This made over 8.8 million owners curious: is Haaland injured, or are his minutes being managed?
Having spoken several weeks ago about him needing to rest, Pep Guardiola’s words suggest the latter.
“Niggles. Some problems, he didn’t feel comfortable, it was 3-0, of course. The reason why is too many games. Fatigue. He said ‘I don’t feel comfortable’. With 3-0 and with a lot of games and with having Omar [Marmoush], common sense.” – Pep Guardiola
A minor first-half knock reminded Pep that Haaland isn’t a machine. On came Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) and, with Gameweek 27 being ten days away, there’s a healthy gap for him to recover calmly.
SEMENYO HAUL
Setting up Haaland’s strike was Phil Foden (£8.2m), starting for the first time in four matches.
Since then, he’s been overtaken by Antoine Semenyo (£7.9m) as the leading Man City midfielder, and Wednesday was another rank-shredder for those who assumed the January transfer would finish him as an FPL asset, and promptly sold the probable Pep Roulette victim.
But, like Chelsea duo Cole Palmer (£10.5m) and Joao Pedro (£7.6m), the former Bournemouth attacker is punishing ‘game time logic’ and rewarding those risk-taking managers.
Semenyo has started all five league games since switching and scored three times. Here, his sole shot broke the deadlock, before assisting Nico O’Reilly (£4.9m) to double the advantage and ensure a tally of 14 points.
OUT OF POSITION O’REILLY
Speaking of this FPL defender, he’s been sold by hundreds of thousands in recent times but, for the third time in a row, started in Man City’s midfield.
The 20-year-old accumulated a match-high five shots, lofting Semenyo’s pass over Bernd Leno (£4.9m). Add that to a clean sheet and a bonus point, O’Reilly delivered 13 points to his remaining owners.
FULHAM’S SUPERIOR XG
Interestingly, even though the match never really felt competitive, particularly once the hosts reached 3-0, Fulham had more attempts (14 v 13), box shots (12 v 5) and expected goals (xG, 1.50 v 1.47).
The Cottagers almost equalised right before Man City broke upfield and bagged a second, via Harry Wilson (£6.0m).
The Welshman forced a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.6m), later setting up a big chance for ‘Goals Imminent’ entry Raul Jimenez (£6.1m). As the shot began heading wide, Emile Smith Rowe (£5.6m) almost reached the tap-in.
But, in the end, O’Reilly, Donnarumma, Marc Guehi (£5.2m) and the returning Ruben Dias (£5.5m) all secured a shutout. There’s even a chance that, upon recalculation, Guehi could grab defensive contribution (DefCon) points too.
Fulham’s Joachim Andersen (£4.6m) achieved this, but this was undone by conceding twice and picking up a yellow card.
