The Scout Notes for Gameweek 37 continue with Everton 1-3 Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Fulham, including a fitness update on Omar Alderete (£4.1m).
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ALDERETE INJURY LATEST
The only bad news for Sunderland in Gameweek 37 was an injury to Alderete, who had to be replaced by Luke O’Nien (£4.0m) with less than 25 minutes on the clock.
“Omar got a small injury during the week.
“He was confident he could manage the game but, in a sprint, he felt it a little bit so we decided to avoid something major and we’ll see how he is tomorrow.” – Regis Le Bris on Omar Alderete
After Alderete was taken off, O’Nien was superb at the back and hit the defensive contribution (DefCon) threshold, even with limited playing time.
SUNDERLAND IN EUROPE?!
In a remarkable second-half turnaround, Sunderland came back to beat Everton 3-1, propelled by goals from Brian Brobbey (£5.3m), Enzo Le Fee (£4.8m) and substitute Wilson Isidor (£5.0m).
Impressing in a ‘10’ role, Le Fee also supplied the assist for Brobbey’s strike with a lovely through ball.
The three points for Sunderland take them to ninth in the table, with eighth now guaranteed to secure a place in the UEFA Conference League next season.
Regis Le Bris’s men could even land a UEFA Europa League spot if they beat Chelsea and other results go their way on the final day.
“[Chelsea] now is going to be like a cup final. They are one of the best teams in the league and maybe they have struggled a bit this season, but they want to be in Europe. We will have this underdog mindset and we will fight until the end.” – Regis Le Bris
SPURS LOOKING GOOD FOR GAMEWEEK 38
Notably, two of Sunderland’s goals at the Hill Dickinson Stadium came down Everton’s left.
Could Tottenham Hotspur’s Pedro Porro (£5.2m) potentially be the next player to exploit that weakness in Gameweek 38?
In any case, Everton have now shipped 2+ goals in six successive matches (see image below), increasing the appeal of Spurs’ final day punts, particularly if they still aren’t safe from relegation.
Image from WhoScored
Everton also need a large win and several results to go their way to have any chance of European football, thus creating potential opportunities in north London.
Merlin Rohl‘s (£5.0m) deflected effort put Everton in front on Sunday, with Michael Keane (£4.5m) claiming a jammy assist, but the hosts failed to build on it, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.3m) and Iliman Ndiaye (£6.3m) both subdued.
“Those players were so good for us in the early part of the season. We’ve just ran out of goals with Ili and Kiernan. Ili especially has had big opportunities that we’ve seen him score in the past. They’ve both just dried up in the last month or so.” – David Moyes on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye
Even Seamus Coleman (£4.2m), on as a substitute and playing his last home match for the Toffees, couldn’t inspire an Everton recovery.
MANE “REALLY GOOD”
Mateus Mane (£4.2m) scored Wolves’ opener on Sunday and was easily their best attacker.
Although he later conceded a penalty, for Fantasy managers who need a cheap forward option in Gameweek 38, he could be a good fit.
Wolves visit Burnley on the final day, of course, with Rob Edwards’ men doing everything they can to make sure they don’t finish bottom.
Not only did Mane score a very decent goal against Fulham, but he also banked DefCon and the maximum bonus.
He’s now racked up seven shots and nine chances created across his last four matches, too.
“He certainly made a difference with the goal and the penalty today. Overall, I thought his performance was really good. He showed lots of endeavour and had a brilliant moment of quality. He is intelligent and the exciting thing is there’s a lot more to come from him. He has been a big plus for us this year in a really challenging period.” – Rob Edwards on Mateus Mane
“It’s definitely important for us to finish the season next week with a win. We’re going to work hard, give it all our best to try get above Burnley.” – Mateus Mane
Hwang Hee-chan (£5.6m) supplied the assist for Mane, and before that, teed up Adam Armstrong (£5.1m), but his effort hit the outside of the post.
ROBINSON PEN
Antonee Robinson (£4.9m) scored his first-ever Premier League goal at Molineux, surprisingly from the penalty spot.
With first-choice taker Raul Jimenez (£6.0m) benched, the left-back rolled it into the net after sending Jose Sa (£4.2m) the wrong way.
“We knew that Raul was not going to start the game. He didn’t train for the last 10 days so it’s been difficult for him to be in the condition to help the team. But we have other [penalty takers] and during the week we did practice, and we decided to go with Robinson. I was 100 per cent sure that he was capable to do it well. It’s always an important moment, a decisive moment when you have a penalty. But I think he’s shown already in some moments, in penalty shootouts, that he was always able to decide well.” – Marco Silva on Antonee Robinson
Despite the penalty, Fulham failed to kick on and claim the victory.
With Alex Iwobi (£6.1m) fit to play, the Cottagers had a bit more fluidity in possession, but ultimately lacked a cutting edge, even though they dominated the ball.
Fulham have now scored just two goals in their last six matches, with Europe almost certainly out of reach.
Harry Wilson (£5.9m), in poor form and out of contract soon, was benched here, with Oscar Bobb (£5.1m) preferred. Even when the Welshman came on, he failed to impress.
Jimenez and Marco Silva’s contracts also expire this summer, so there is lots of uncertainty at Fulham right now.
“We are going to set some important things that are going to be crucial for the club’s future. In the way I see, in the way I want the club to move on. After, of course the decision is going to be made between me and the football club. If it’s going to be in the next days before the Newcastle game, we are going to communicate something. If it’s not going to be, I am not going to take any decision just because of that [Newcastle game].” – Marco Silva
