Another of Saturday’s matches to look back on now as Brighton and Hove Albion upset the form table, and FPL managers, to beat Brentford 2-0.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: James’ fitness, Estevao injury + Chelsea’s set-piece woes
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 27: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
WHY KAYODE MISSED OUT
Any Fantasy manager who jumped on Michael Kayode (£4.5m) for the start of Brentford’s favourable fixture run was left disappointed on Saturday.
The right-back was absent from the squad completely, missing a league game for the first time this season.
“Michael missed out with a knock and we’ll see how he is over the next few days as well.” – Keith Andrews on Michael Kayode
His replacement, Aaron Hickey (£4.0m), didn’t even make it to half-time, coming off with an injury of his own.
“Not [any update] as I know. We’ll see how he is over the next day or two.” – Keith Andrews on Aaron Hickey
COLLINS RETURNS – BUT MAKES A BIG ERROR
As a result of Hickey hobbling off, Nathan Collins (£5.0m) came on.
The one-time reliable starter, a good bet for DefCon points when on the field, has been out of the side since Gameweek 23.
Kristoffer Ajer (£4.4m), arguably Brentford’s best centre-half over the last few months, moved to right-back as Hickey went off, with Collins coming in at centre-back:
Unfortunately for Collins, he made a big rick just minutes after his introduction, allowing Danny Welbeck (£6.1m) to steal in and score Brighton’s second goal.
His confidence seemed dented thereafter, with his distribution erratic. Don’t expect him to regain his place any time soon, unless Hickey and Kayode are both injured for Gameweek 28 and Keith Andrews’ hand is forced.
WAY BACK IN FOR SCHADE?
Andrews responded to a flat first half by making a couple of half-time changes. One of those alterations saw the ‘out of position’ Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.8m) make way and Kevin Schade (£6.9m) brought on.
Schade was a reliable starter before his three-match ban (and a possible Gameweek 27 transfer target) but Andrews seems to be a ‘it’s your shirt to lose’-type manager, and Lewis-Potter was rewarded for his Gameweek 26 performance and goal with another start here.
After a poor first-half display from ‘KLP’ (not that he was alone), however, he was off. Schade wasn’t much better, but you wonder if Andrews will take the excuse of a defeat to recall the German.
It should be noted that Lewis-Potter had back issues in the first half, although the change may have happened regardless.
“Keano had been struggling with a slight back spasm. I didn’t think he was moving particularly freely.
“I’ve been pretty forthright with this throughout: we’ve got a really good squad and I will utilise that, and I felt like it was needed to be utilised from half-time.” – Keith Andrews
THIAGO BLANKS AGAIN
So, the open-play drought drags on for Igor Thiago (£7.0m). His only goal in the last six Gameweeks came from the penalty spot on Tyneside.
But, as the old adage goes, you’d be more worried if he wasn’t getting the chances.
While there wasn’t quite the bucketful he got against Arsenal, he still had two good openings on Saturday. The first saw him blaze over with only the ‘keeper to beat (see below), the second a header flash over.
He also nodded down for a late Dango Ouattara (£5.8m) big chance, which the winger hooked over. That was Dango’s only shot of the game but he too could/should have had an assist, setting up an 87th-minute big chance that Mikkel Damsgaard (£5.6m) wasted and then very nearly forcing an own-goal from Joel Veltman (£4.3m).
All in all, an off-day from the Bees. You’re going to get those from time to time – this is Brentford, not a title challenger, and they simply aren’t going to produce stellar, winning performances week in, week out. Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 23 was another example – and the west Londoners bounced back with three superb displays.
As we pointed out last week, though, the Bees tend not to find it easy against bottom-half teams.
DESERVED WIN FOR BRIGHTON
The Statsbomb xG had it pretty much level (see below) but Brighton were deserved victors. It wasn’t a vintage attacking display from the Seagulls; Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1m) twice had decent openings from inside the box but that was pretty much it apart from the two goals.
But it was more of a controlled performance, with Albion coping well with the set-piece bombardment and bossing the midfield through veterans James Milner (£4.9m) and Pascal Gross (£5.5m). Jack Hinshelwood (£5.1m) took up the more advanced ’10’ role.
Diego Gomez (£4.9m) got the opener, pouncing on the loose ball after Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) struck the bar from distance. Welbeck then benefited from Collins’ rush of blood.
DefCon machine Mats Wieffer (£4.9m) returned at right-back after a long spell out. Had Hurzeler not taken him off early to manage his minutes, Wieffer may well have delivered again on that front.
As it was, the ‘vans’ – Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.4m) and Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) – were the only ones to bank DefCon points.
A much-needed boost for the under-fire Fabian Hurzeler, then, but Brighton aren’t likely to court much FPL interest. After the Gameweek 28 visit of Forest comes this off-putting run:
