Wolverhampton Wanderers secured a dramatic late 2-1 win on Tuesday night, frustrating the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) owners of Liverpool pair Virgil van Dijk (£6.1m) and Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m).
Here are our Scout Notes from Molineux.
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Roefs injury latest + why Xhaka was a sub
- READ MORE: Tuesday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
BIG VAN DIJK MISSES
In truth, it took a while for events to unfold. Although Liverpool massively outdid their hosts for attempts (19 v 4), shots on target (6 v 3), big chances (4 v 1) and expected goals (xG, 1.83 v 0.44), the Wolves backline has been resolute of late.
Two such big chances fell to highly-owned defender van Dijk, who almost extended his attacking returns run to four matches.
Above: Virgil van Dijk’s two big chances, according to Statsbomb
An effort from the six-yard line was blocked, and his clean sheet consolation prize disappeared in the 78th minute when Tolu Arokodare (£5.4m) nudged the Dutchman and set up Rodrigo Gomes‘ (£4.4m) strike.
Still, van Dijk had a golden chance to win the game in stoppage time, but headed straight into Jose Sa‘s (£4.2m) hands. There would’ve been an offside VAR check, mind.
Making things worse, the 94th-minute deflected Andre (£5.2m) goal soon lowered his output to one solitary point.
EKITIKE: BACK TO BLANKS
Above: Two chances created by Hugo Ekitike
Meanwhile, the only FPL player with more Gameweek 29 purchases, Ekitike, returned to his frustrating ways.
The forward is either feast or famine. Before Saturday’s 15-pointer versus West Ham United, he’d not scored in six of his previous seven starts – a brace thwarted Newcastle United, but alongside home blanks against Wolves, Leeds United and Burnley.
This was Ekitike’s first start without a penalty area shot since Gameweek 11 but, in fairness, he should have picked up an assist.
The Frenchman flicked on a corner that would’ve been chested in by Curtis Jones (£5.4m) from one yard out, had Cody Gakpo‘s (£7.3m) boot not taken the ball off him. After coming down from the crossbar, the subsequent scramble led to van Dijk’s first big opportunity.
And Ekitike owners shouldn’t worry too much, as next time the Reds will face Tottenham Hotspur at home. Spurs have conceded 2+ goals in each of their last eight league games.
“Same old story. Recently, we are picking up points because many times we’ve scored from set-pieces, but what did not change in the last five, six or seven games is that we struggle and find it very hard to score from the open-play chances that we do create.” – Arne Slot
“We were slow, we were predictable and sloppy in possession and wrong with decision-making. Obviously, we didn’t concede chances, but if you perform like that then a result like this could be the result of that. That’s the fact and that’s disappointing from tonight.” – Virgil van Dijk
SALAH GOAL ENDS DROUGHT
Sticking with Liverpool, our ‘Goals Imminent’ article reminded us that Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) was long overdue a return!
By pouncing on a wayward Wolves pass to equalise, the FPL legend ended his 10-match goalless streak in the league.
24 close-range shots took place during those 10 barren fixtures, though none of the latest dozen was either an Opta-defined big chance, or even put on target.
The Egyptian is yet to deliver multiple attacking returns in a 2025/26 match, and this is only the third time he’s reached nine or more points.
Perhaps a nostalgic resurgence now gets underway, but it’s still hard to justify buying Salah at such a premium price.
For less than half, managers can get all-round talent Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.9m). A scorer in Gameweeks 23 and 25, he also has a couple of recent assists and grabbed five points here thanks to another defensive contribution (DefCon) reward.
The Hungarian set up four chances at Molineux and had three for himself.
WOLVES’ IMPROVEMENT CONTINUES
As for Wolves, consecutive home victories over Aston Villa and Liverpool mean that, from Gameweek 20 onwards, they’ve gained 13 points from three wins, plus draws against Arsenal, Newcastle, Everton and Nottingham Forest. Four clean sheets, too.
It’s long been accepted that they’ll be relegated to the Championship, but Rob Edwards’ side are doing so with their heads held up.
After visiting Brentford, there’s Blank Gameweek 31, then a decent run of fixtures.
With continued improvement, a few Wolves assets may even be worth considering from Gameweek 32.
Mateus Mane (£4.5m) has now started 13 matches in succession, even if he’s blanked in the last nine of them.
At the back, Yerson Mosquera (£4.3m) and Hugo Bueno (£4.3m) combine recent solidity with attacking threat. Both were benched here, having started 12 in a row, as Edwards had one eye on Friday’s FA Cup rematch. Elimination from that and the focus is back on some dignity-saving in the league.
Low-priced goalkeeper Sa might enter the Gameweek 33 Bench Boost conversation, too.
