The Gameweek 26 Scout Notes continue with Sunderland 0-1 Liverpool and Aston Villa 1-0 Brighton and Hove Albion, with Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) emerging as one of the key talking points.
VAN DIJK HAULS
Virgil van Dijk netted the only goal as Liverpool became the first team to beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in 2025/26.
The Dutch international headed in Mohamed Salah’s (£14.0m) second-half corner and claimed 17 points, thanks to his goal, a clean sheet, defensive contribution (DefCon) points and the maximum bonus.
Ibrahima Konate (£5.4m) also impressed at the heart of Liverpool’s defence.
“This game was pretty close to perfection, how we defended, the intensity, but also the chances we generated. Maybe we should have scored more but it’s still taking it game by game.” – Virgil van Dijk
Notably, Liverpool are third for expected goals conceded (xGC) over the last six Gameweeks, with interest in van Dijk set to ramp up ahead of this run of fixtures:
WIRTZ UNLUCKY
Liverpool were by far the better side on Wednesday, with 23 shots on goal.
Florian Wirtz (£8.4m) was superb and struck the post, while Hugo Ekitike (£8.9m) and Salah both missed decent opportunities.
“Not for the first time he was really good. But recently when he was really good he was also involved in goals and assists. I think today he was very close and maybe should have been on the scoreboard with the amount of quality he has.” – Arne Slot on Florian Wirtz
Wirtz also forced Robin Roefs (£4.9m) into a couple of saves, with five shots in total, the most of any Liverpool player:
Wataru Endo (£4.9m), meanwhile, filled in for the suspended Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m) at right-back and performed well, but later picked up an injury.
“We don’t expect a positive outcome. Like I said, we have to wait and see. We expect not to have him for quite a long time. That is not the first time with our right full-backs. We have accepted this every time. We have to find solutions to keep performing well.” – Arne Slot on Wataru Endo
ALDERETE LATEST
Sunderland centre-back Omar Alderete (£4.1m) was forced off late on against Liverpool, with some reports suggesting that he picked up a muscle injury.
Regis Le Bris failed to provide an update on his condition after full-time, but with the Black Cats in FA Cup action on Sunday, we should find out more soon.
Among Sunderland’s other budget defenders, Nordi Mukiele (£4.6m) and the ‘out-of-position’ Trai Hume (£4.5m) both missed half-chances and collectively took seven shots ahead of next week’s home encounter with Fulham.
ROGERS + WATKINS POOR
Aston Villa successfully secured a narrow 1-0 win over Brighton on Wednesday.
Tyrone Mings (£4.3m) forced the late winner from a corner, but the performance was flat and often laboured, with Morgan Rogers (£7.6m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.6m) poor throughout.
Rogers racked up four shots, all inside the box, but his passing frequently let him down, while Watkins only touched the ball twice in the Brighton penalty area.
In truth, Unai Emery’s team have looked pretty ordinary at Villa Park lately, having scored only one goal in their last three home matches against Everton, Brentford and Brighton.
It’s perhaps understandable given the injuries to key midfielders Boubacar Kamara (£4.9m), Youri Tielemans (£5.9m) and John McGinn (£5.4m), but it’s clearly a situation that’ll need to be monitored, with Leeds United up next at Villa Park in Gameweek 27.
As for Brighton, they didn’t offer much in attack either, with Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) the nearest to finding the net, when his effort was tipped onto the bar.
CASH + VAN HECKE INJURY LATEST
Matty Cash (£4.9m) missed out in Gameweek 26 due to injury, with Lamare Bogarde (£4.0m) filling in at right-back.
After the match, Emery provided an update.
“He was injured, with a small injury. I don’t know if he will be available for Saturday. Each day is important for how he is progressing.” – Unai Emery on Matty Cash
Just seconds after the hour mark, Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) went off for Brighton, but it was a pre-planned move, having previously missed out on Sunday due to a minor hamstring issue.
“We know that he could not play for 90 minutes, so that was the normal procedure. We had to take him out after 60, 65. That was the maximum of his playing time, what he was capable of doing. So therefore, we knew that we have to take him off.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Jan Paul van Hecke
There was no injury for Carlos Baleba (£4.5m) either – he was subbed off to avoid a second yellow card, having been booked in the second minute.
