We begin our Scout Notes for Gameweek 6 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) with the two-all draw between Aston Villa and Brentford.
Both clubs held the lead in this match, but only for two minutes each, with equalisers quickly restoring parity.
Here are the main Fantasy talking points.
SCHADE INJURY
Villa v Brentford might not seem like an obvious place to start the Scout Notes but an injury to the 16%-owned Kevin Schade (£6.2m) was one reason to.
The German injured his shoulder in a first-half tangle with Matty Cash (£4.4m) and, although he continued until after the break, he finally accepted defeat and trudged off seven minutes into the second half.
“Yeah, he probably wasn’t right at half-time. He wanted to give it a go, which is credit to him. He’s picked up a shoulder injury, so we’ll see how he is on in the coming days.” – Keith Andrews on Kevin Schade, speaking after full-time to TV media
“Not entirely sure how he is but he was clearly in a bit of pain.” – Keith Andrews on Kevin Schade, speaking to in-house club media
Schade had racked up four shots in just 52 minutes, exhibiting the goal threat that had led to a surge in FPL ownership.
Above: Kevin Schade’s xG shotmap in Gameweek 6
A decent third-minute chance went off-target, while he later forced Zion Suzuki (£5.0m) into a stop with a volley. That was his last contribution of the game.
SANGARE BENCHED AGAIN + JANELT ON DEFCON TRAIL ONCE MORE
Staying with the theme of well-owned Brentford midfielders, Mamadou Sangare (£5.6m) was benched again.
Sangare was jettisoned by nearly 300,000 managers ahead of Gameweek 6 but he still features in 8.7% of FPL squads, especially those Wildcarded ones from Gameweeks 3/4.
The Mali international actually did well when he came on and racked up an impressive 11 defensive contributions in 38 minutes, just one short of the required number for DefCon points. Whether this positive cameo was enough to get him back in the side remains to be seen.
Brentford’s two starting budget central midfielders, Yehor Yarmoliyk (£4.8m) and Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m) both delivered. Janelt banked DefCon points for the fourth time this season, while Yarmoliuk lashed in the Bees’ opener.
“I’ve been saying for a number of weeks, I just feel like he’s coming on, in the respect he’s been calmer in training, around the box and how he’s finishing. He’s worked very hard from day one in pre-season. It’s been an area of his game we’ve looked to focus on.” – Keith Andrews on Yehor Yarmoliuk
Janelt did pick up his fourth booking of the campaign, however, so he is now just one caution from a ban.
We thought Yarmoliuk might get the nod in the ’10’ on Saturday, with Mikkel Damsgaard (£5.4m) out and Mathias Jensen (£5.4m) only fit enough for bench duty, but it was instead the versatile Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.5m) who deputised.
El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.5m) came in at left-back, where Lewis-Potter had previously played, and performed well.
SCHUSTER INJURY, AJER SCORES + VAN DEN BERG RETURNS
There was another Brentford injury to report, with centre-half Jannik Schuster (£4.5m) coming off at half-time.
“Jannik picked up a knock during the week. Didn’t quite look amazing in training yesterday how he was moving. Felt it was similar today in the warm-up. There was just a little incident with his ankle. So, it was the right decision just to take him out of the firing line.” – Keith Andrews on Jannik Schuster
Aaron Hickey (£4.5m) filled in at centre-half after the break.
Elsewhere on defender watch, the fit-again Sepp van den Berg (£4.9m) made his first matchday squad of 2026/27. Nathan Collins (£5.4m) is not thought to be far away, either.
Owners of Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) will be monitoring those situations carefully, although the fact that van den Berg wasn’t even fit enough to be a half-time sub means it may be a while before he’s in starting contention. Schuster would likely drop out first, anyway.
In any event, Ajer is impressing his manager.
“He’s got a good rhythm to his game, off the back of a really impressive World Cup, the stature that he has now at international level. He’s brought that form back into here and he’s a big player for us.” – Keith Andrews on Kristoffer Ajer
Ajer agonisingly finished one contribution away from DefCon points for the third Gameweek in a row. He compensated adequately, however, by getting forward – from open play – to fire in Brentford’s equaliser.
MANZAMBI GOES SHOT CRAZY
Johan Manzambi (£5.9m) has made an eye-catching start to his Villa career. Hauling on his full debut in Gameweek 5, he claimed an assist for John McGinn‘s (£5.4m) goal here.
What’s more, he racked up more shots (seven) than any other Premier League player on Saturday. No Villan created more chances (three), either.
He’s now been involved in 16 of Villa’s opportunities – either an attempt or a chance created – in just two Gameweeks.
On Saturday, all of Manzambi’s efforts were admittedly from the edge of the box or further out. Still, there was one decent first-half double chance, with an initial effort blocked and the rebound well saved.
Unai Emery is urging caution with the new arrival.
“Manzambi, like when Morgan Rogers arrived here three years ago, he will need time. Ibra [Mbaye], as well. The speed is very important for us, right side, left side, but he needs time, as well, to adapt to our structure.” – Unai Emery
A DRAW FAIR?
These two clubs had more shots (Villa 20, Brentford 14) than any other Premier League team on Saturday.
The Bees arguably played the better football and looked the sharper, but it was nevertheless Villa who carved out the superior-quality chances. The hosts were considerably ahead for xG (above).
Caoimhin Kelleher (£5.0m) had to make five saves, indeed. Most were routine in nature, but there was one excellent stop to deny McGinn from point-blank range.
Nicolas Jackson (£6.5m) continued his own solid start to life at Villa by following in a blocked Emi Buendia (£5.9m) shot to quickly cancel out Yarmolyuk’s opener. Jackson has had an impressive 10 attempts across the last two Gameweeks, scoring twice.
A goalless hour or so followed before McGinn and Ajer struck in quick succession. McGinn has now delivered a return in three successive matches.
Igor Thiago (£7.8m) couldn’t add to his drought-breaking Gameweek 5 goal and could only register one shot. He did, however, claim the assist when his deflected cross fell to Yarmolyuk for the opener.
RUGGERI + HEMMINGS UPDATES
Villa suffered two injuries of their own.
Matteo Ruggeri (£4.5m) was forced off at half-time with a hamstring issue and faces assessment. Budget midfielder George Hemmings (£4.5m) missed out with a minor knee complaint but could return in midweek.
