Five goals, a red card, shaky defending, a first-choice goalkeeper missing out through injury, a regular at the back dumped, two £5.5m forwards scoring, and a £4.0m defender delivering a 14-point haul.
There’s lots to unpack from Saturday’s match at Selhurst Park!
HENDERSON INJURY UPDATE
Dealing with the goalkeeper injury first, Dean Henderson (£5.0m) sat out the five-goal thriller in south London.
He’ll not be back in Gameweek 5, either, but should return after the lengthy international break.
“He has played injured from the beginning of the season because he injured himself in Freiburg. He played with that. He did not train too much, but he played well. The pain is too hard for the moment and we do not have to take a risk. I think he will be back for Nottingham Forest [in Gameweek 6].” – Pierre Sage on Dean Henderson
Alas, we’re still waiting for our first 2026/27 minutes from a £4.0m goalkeeper. Henderson’s understudy, Walter Benítez, is £4.5m.
WHERE WAS CANVOT?
While the absences of Henderson and Eddie Nketiah (£5.5m) were down to injury, Jaydee Canvot‘s (£4.9m) omission was purely “sporting”.
A 90-minute man before Saturday, Canvot – a DefCon machine in his limited pitch-time in 2025/26 – didn’t even make the bench.
“It was a sporting decision. But I have to be honest with you, I did not take him in the team because of his game at Fulham and what he did during the week. I spoke with him. I want more from him. I need more from him. I am sure he is able to do it, and I wait for a good reaction on his part from Monday.” – Pierre Sage on Jaydee Canvot
This latest bold call from Pierre Sage followed previous, but less headline-grabbing, omissions of Dwight McNeil (£5.4m) and Evann Guessand (£5.5m). These public displays of muscle flexing always carry the serious potential to go belly-up (‘player power’ often wins out these days), but Sage insists he doesn’t want to behave in such a way.
“I do not care about my authority. I just want the player at 100% of what they are able to do, and when they give less, I have to shake them. But for me, it is really a problem because normally I needn’t do that, because every player has to be focused on his job, on what he has to do. Maybe it is my interpretation, but they have to understand my demands and why I do that. But like I told you, it is not a pleasure to do that. I prefer to make the choice between 25 players ready to play, fit and 100% in mentality.” – Pierre Sage, when asked if he was trying to show his authority as a new manager
We may see Canvot back as soon as Gameweek 5, of course, with Axel Disasi (£4.5m) now suspended. The Chelsea loanee was sent off for serious foul play on Saturday and now faces a three-match ban.
THE NEW MUNOZ?
Palace defenders won’t be top of many Fantasy managers’ shopping lists right now. They’ve looked awful defensively, and rank 20th for both expected goals conceded (xGC, 8.15) and actual goals conceded (11).
Which is a shame, as their wing-backs are super-attacking. In Gameweek 3, we had the left wing-back hat-trick. In the cup in midweek, two assists from the wing-backs. And on Saturday, Anan Khalaili (£5.0m) found the net.
Not only that, but he had more shots than anyone else on show – and nearly bagged a second late on:
Above: Players involved in Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town sorted by shots
A goal threat and capable of delivering DefCons; shame about the clean sheet potential. If Sage can begin to address the defensive woes, then Khalaili will rise further up the watchlist.
“Yes, it is too many goals conceded. I am aware of that. I think today we conceded fewer chances than the opponent, but they were really efficient. What is important to know, and we saw the same thing, is that we conceded three times the same goals. A cross and a ball not won in our box. That is why we have to work on that, because now we close the play, but we have to prevent the crosses and win the ball in the box.” – Pierre Sage on Palace’s defending
DAVIS STICKING IT TO THE DEFCON GUYS
There’s a similar issue at Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys have kept zero clean sheets and conceded 10 goals.
But Leif Davis (£4.0m) is amassing the points regardless. The left-back now has four attacking returns to his name, one more than he managed in the whole of 2024/25 (his last top-flight campaign).
He was involved in all of three of Ipswich’s goals on Saturday. First crossing for Emersson (£5.5m) to head in, Davis then had the favour returned when the Brazilian striker teed him up for a headed goal of his own. Finally, in the 90th minute, another Davis header hit the woodwork and fell for Zian Flemming (£5.5m) to tap in.
Above: Leif Davis is second among defenders for xGI this season
“My main criticism of Leif [last weekend], because he’s been top, was his final ball. We got him in the final third a lot against Liverpool, got him in some great positions, and spoke to him about, ‘Come on, you’re better than that. You can put in better quality than that’. And he did today. Really proud of him. I think he’s come an awful long way since since I met him in Bournemouth as a young lad playing left-back. The way he approaches the game now, his mentality, he’s brave in his defending, he attacks well. So, really pleased for Leif to have some more goal involvements.
“We choose how we use him. Sometimes inside, sometimes outside, sometimes low, but he takes them all on, attacks them really, really well. So, pleased with where he’s at.” – Gary O’Neil on Leif Davis
And yet… some Fantasy managers may still prefer the ‘DefCon guys’ for their £4.0m defender. Will Davis keep getting an attacking return every other game? Probably not. Will Dara O’Shea (£4.0m) deliver DefCon points every other match? Very possibly. He nearly made it three successes out of four on Saturday, indeed:
That stronger possibility of an extra two points, at any given time, is maybe what a lot of FPL managers prefer when they need to call upon their fifth, emergency sub defender, even if none of them will likely be able to match Davis’s ceiling.
EMERSONN INJURY UPDATES AFTER BOTH £5.5M FORWARDS SCORE
Emersonn now has three attacking returns in four Gameweeks – but he’s also yet to last beyond 65 minutes.
This time, a quad injury forced him off, with Flemming coming on to open his Ipswich account.
Emersonn should be okay for next weekend, however.
“He’s got a tight quad. No one thinks he’s too bad, but with just quick checks after the game, it’s hard for me to be too accurate with you. We don’t see There being a problem for Everton. I’ll probably rest him in the week, I would think. I would have probably rested him anyway without his tight quad, but I thought he was excellent. I’d hate to play against him. He must be tough to play against. He bashes people around, he runs in behind, he looks after the ball. He’s a threat. So, really pleased with how quickly he’s taken to the level and the league.” – Gary O’Neil on Emersonn
10 v 11
Finally, a quick look at the game-state, to try and put the scoreline and xG in context.
The red line below shows when Disasi was sent off:
So, it was 4-2 Palace on shots when they were reduced to 10 men, although Ipswich had the narrow edge on xG at the time. Both sides had found the net, too.
In short: these are two clubs that have actually been half-decent going forward, but look very suspect at the back.
Daichi Kamada (£5.0m), incidentally, now has four attacking returns in three matches in league and cup since moving from central midfield to a ’10’ role. He assisted both of Palace’s strikes here.
Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.0m) also followed up three returns in midweek with a Gameweek 4 goal.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 4: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + DefCon points
- READ MORE: FPL notes: The good + bad of Chelsea, Hull heroics, Mendy injury
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Iraola on fatigue + Barcola fitness, Fulham improve
- READ MORE: FPL notes: White injury, Le Bris on Le Fee’s pen miss + Raya haul
