We’ve got two more Sunday matches to get through in our Gameweek 30 Scout Notes: Crystal Palace 0-0 Leeds United and Nottingham Forest 0-0 Fulham.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 30: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Brilliant Bruno + why Barkley got maximum bonus
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Slot explains Ekitike benching + Richarlison threat
GLASNER EXPLAINS HENDERSON ABSENCE
Dean Henderson (£5.0m) missed out for Palace on Sunday, which opened the door for £4.0m goalkeeper Walter Benitez to make his Premier League debut.
Oliver Glasner confirmed in his pre-match interview that Henderson was absent due to illness.
“Unfortunately, Dean is ill. The last two days he was at home, feverish, so it makes no sense to play him.” – Oliver Glasner on Dean Henderson
Henderson will likely return for Thursday’s European match against AEK Larnaca, then, with a still-to-be-confirmed Blank Gameweek 31 to follow.
As for Daniel Munoz (£5.9m), he failed to recover from a shoulder injury in time, with Brennan Johnson (£6.5m) deputising for him at right wing-back once more.
CALVERT-LEWIN MISSES PEN, STACH DEEPER
There was more frustration for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m) owners at Selhurst Park.
The Leeds striker overcame a late fitness test on a knee issue to start, but his penalty miss defined the match, having dragged his spot-kick wide of the bottom left corner.
Calvert-Lewin did actually lead the line well, but he has now scored just one goal in his last nine Premier League games, a period which has seen him miss seven of his eight Opta ‘big chances’.
“I was happy with his overall performance, I was happy for him to take [the penalty]. Also, what he did in the second half, he was a crucial part today. Of course, you want to hit the target and he is disappointed. But this is football, even Harry Kane misses’ penalties. I was a striker – I missed more penalties than you can count.” – Daniel Farke on Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Anton Stach (£4.7m), meanwhile, lined up in a slightly deeper role next to Ethan Ampadu (£4.9m), rather than playing as one of the two attacking midfielders in Daniel Farke’s 3-4-2-1.
It resulted in only 22 touches in the opposition half, his fewest in a match since Gameweek 12, but Stach still created three chances for his teammates – all from set-pieces – and banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points.
GUDMUNDSSON BAN, PALACE LACK CUTTING EDGE
Gabriel Gudmundsson’s (£3.8m) first-half red card was partly to blame for Stach’s more disciplined role, of course.
Having been shown two yellow cards, Gudmundsson will now miss Blank Gameweek 31.
However, the hosts ultimately failed to make their one-man advantage count, with Farke’s deep 5-3-1 successfully nullifying Palace’s offensive threat.
In fact, the Whites didn’t concede a single shot on target all afternoon.
It was Palace’s second home goalless draw in four days, following their European stalemate against AEK Larnaca.
But even with Palace in desperate need of a plan B, Glasner refused to pair strikers Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.1m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) together.
The Palace boss later explained his reasoning.
“He’s [Strand Larsen] always quite fatigued after the games and is now playing next game within three days and play again in four days. JP has to come closer to his best shape… He has to improve. He will improve. Then it’s definitely an option.” – Oliver Glasner on playing Jorgen Strand Larsen and Jean-Philippe Mateta together
With goals in short supply, all six centre-backs on show banked DefCon, as well as Ampadu and Stach:
Maxence Lacroix (£5.1m) also racked up four shots in Gameweek 30, mostly from throw-ins/corners.
FULHAM’S FIRST CLEAN SHEET OF 2026
Sunday’s goalless draw at the City Ground marked Fulham’s first clean sheet since December.
It coincided with the return of Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) at centre-back.
“A clean sheet is something very important for us. I have to say that’s been missing and probably playing a big part in some games for us when we are not able to win the game, to not concede as well.” – Marco Silva
Andersen’s lack of mobility sometimes caused problems for Fulham, but overall, the performance/clean sheet was a real positive ahead of next week’s home encounter with Burnley.
Harry Wilson (£6.0m) was thrown straight back into Marco Silva’s starting XI, too, having fully recovered from an ankle injury.
The Welshman produced a couple of shots and took some decent set-pieces, but Fulham struggled to create clear-cut opportunities, with Calvin Bassey (£4.4m) missing their best chance, heading straight at Matz Sels (£4.6m) from six yards out.
Emile Smith Rowe (£5.6m), meanwhile, missed out due to injury.
WHY GIBBS-WHITE WAS SUBBED OFF
As for Forest, Vitor Pereira reverted to a back four for this clash, but in another poor game, the points were shared at the City Ground.
Half-time substitute Dan Ndoye (£5.5m) had a goal ruled out for offside, while Ola Aina (£4.7m) crashed an effort off the woodwork, but there was a familiar lack of goal threat for the Tricky Trees, who generated just 0.89 expected goals (xG).
The decision to take off Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.4m) – who surprisingly started on the left wing – with 17 minutes left consequently drew some confusion.
Explaining his decision, Pereira said:
“Morgan is a fantastic player. But in the moment of the subs, usually I give some minutes to understand if the player has the energy to help the team and be himself. He ran a lot in the last game. For me, Morgan is not a winger. He is a player to play in between the lines and to play in the back of the striker. At half-time, I realised I didn’t want him to play as a winger because I prefer to bring him into the areas where he can decide the game. He tries.
“I put a true winger on to create situations one v one. Omari [Hutchinson] did very well. I tried with the substitution of Igor [Jesus] to put more energy on the pitch, with Taiwo [Awoniyi]. Taiwo created a lot of problems. I tried with Dan [Ndoye] to have another fresh winger. He likes to attack the space. For me, that was important in that moment. We tried everything the game was demanding, even the substitution of Morgan.” – Vitor Pereira on Morgan Gibbs-White
A quick word on Elliot Anderson (£5.5m), too. He probably should have done better with an early shot, picked up a booking and missed out on DefCon for the second time in three Gameweeks.
Forest have the lowest shot conversion rate of any top-flight team this season (7.3%) and are now seven league matches without a win.
Next up: a crucial trip to relegation rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Blank Gameweek 31.
