Last on Match of the Day, and the last of Saturday’s Scout Notes: the goalless draw at Turf Moor continues our Gameweek 30 recap.
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WHY JIMENEZ WAS BENCHED
While there were more handsome defensive returns for James Hill (£4.2m) and Marcos Senesi (£5.0m), Alex Jimenez (£4.5m) missed out on Bournemouth’s latest clean sheet.
The full-back’s unbroken 16-match run in the starting XI ended, with Adam Smith (£4.4m) instead starting.
Andoni Iraola said the decision was part-fitness and part-tactical, with the Cherries’ team otherwise quite attacking.
“Alex was not injured, but he was having some issues, some niggles. During the week, has been with small things, complaining a little bit, and he hasn’t trained fully.
“And also we were putting a very offensive side from the beginning, so I decided to go with Adam, that is also very reliable and [will] save probably Alex Jiménez a little bit of effort.
“I think he has played the last 30-something minutes, where I think he has played really well.” – Andoni Iraola on benching Alex Jimenez, via the Bournemouth Echo
Hill and Senesi snaffled up defensive contributions yet again. Since their centre-half partnership started in Gameweek 19, they’re the top two FPL defenders for DefCon points (18 and 16 respectively).
ADAMS INJURY – COULD IT HELP KROUPI START?
One of the reasons that Bournemouth’s side was so offensive-looking was that the Cherries were deprived of their two natural defensive midfielders.
Tyler Adams (£4.9m) joined Lewis Cook (£4.9m) on the sidelines for this one, and it’s doubtful whether he’ll return in Gameweek 31.
“Tyler felt something yesterday training. It doesn’t look anything too serious, but it’s true that for today was out. And also we are playing, I think, United in six days. We play Friday, so I don’t know, I cannot tell you if it’s going to be available or not.
“I think it’s going to be difficult because if even if it’s very small, it’s six days. I cannot tell you right now, but I see that it’s going to be difficult and it’s a shame because we don’t have a lot of injuries right now, but we have Lew and Tyler that basically are our two number 6s in the same position out together.” – Andoni Iraola on Tyler Adams, via the Bournemouth Echo
Could Adams’ expected absence help Eli Kroupi Junior (£4.7m) start in Blank Gameweek 31? The American’s unavailability saw Ryan Christie (£4.9m), who started in the ’10’ in Gameweek 29, move back alongside Alex Scott (£5.1m). Marcus Tavernier (£5.4m) shifted deeper after Christie went off on the hour.
Christie deeper = one less positional rival for Kroupi. Alas, there are plenty of alternatives for Iraola. David Brooks (£5.0m), Amine Adli (£5.4m) or even Jimenez could come in on the right in Gameweek 31, with Tavernier moving into the ’10’ role. We were confident of a Kroupi start in Gameweek 30, decidedly less so on Friday.
GOALSCORING BLIP
Generally speaking, goalscoring hasn’t been a problem for Bournemouth this season.
While Evanilson (£6.8m) and Tavernier are far from being ruthless finishers, the Cherries have typically kept pace with, or exceeded, their xG. Indeed, even now, they are the joint-fifth-highest scores in the division.
The current four-match drought, in which they’ve scored just once, is a bit of an exception to the norm, then:
Above: Bournemouth’s four-game rolling average of xG v goals
Tavernier, yet again, hit the woodwork on Saturday (that’s three times in two matches!), while Evanilson saw one of his six shots cleared off the line. Senesi was even close to nodding in a Hill long throw. This, actually, wasn’t nearly as good an attacking display as Gameweek 29’s, but the Cherries still probably should have scored.
“We’ve been drawing sometimes 3-3, 4-4, 2-2, and now we are like probably feeling a little bit more solid at the back, but it’s taking us a little bit offensively.
“But if now we are going to check the stats, last games, I think all the games we finished with 20-something shots, the xG is through the roof, but we are not scoring.
“But I trust my forwards. I think as long as we play well, I think someone will score the goals.” – Andoni Iraola, via the Bournemouth Echo
WHY ESTEVE WAS SUBBED OFF
While lots of us would have benched our Burnley goalkeeper/defenders at the weekend, we might need them in Blank Gameweek 31. Many David Raya (£6.0m) owners, for instance, will have Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) waiting in reserve.
So, while it might be galling to see those clean sheet points left stranded on our benches, a decent defensive performance is probably a good thing going into Gameweek 31. You wouldn’t have wanted the Clarets to ship five goals on Saturday and then have question marks over whether Scott Parker might shake things up at the back.
Maxime Esteve (£3.9m), who features in 7.7% of FPL squads overall and 6.3% of the top 100k, is another semi-popular Burnley bench fodder pick. A 73rd-minute exit on Saturday would have worried owners but the good news is that it was illness, not injury, that forced him off.
“He just said he was ill. He said he felt like he was going to be sick on the pitch, so obviously in that moment you can’t take that risk really and we brought him off.” – Scott Parker on why Maxime Esteve came off, via Burnley Express
After an early-season purple patch and a mid-term blip, Jaidon Anthony (£5.0m) has had a bit of a resurgence of late. Three attacking returns in five Gameweeks nearly became four when he hit the Cherries’ bar on Saturday. That was one of five attempts the winger had, continuing his shot-happy recent run.
Above: Midfielders sorted by shots taken in their last six matches
