Joining Arsenal in Wednesday’s midweek Champions League action were Manchester United and Aston Villa.
The Reds and the Villans came away with very different results from their respective clashes against Como and Viking.
We have all the key talking points from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective below.
GOALS/ASSISTS
| Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa 3-1 Viking | Barkley, Buendia pen, own-goal | Mbaye, Alysson x2 |
| Como 4-1 Man Utd | Zirkzee | Amad |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW7 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | 4 | Suzuki (90), Lindelof (90), Mings (90), Buendia (90), Alysson (75), Gomes (70), Jackson (70) | Torres (90), McGinn (90), Mbaye (72), Barkley (70), Cash (20), Goretzka (20), Abraham (20), Garnacho (18), Hemmings (15) |
| Man Utd | 4 | Lammens (90), Dalot (90), Maguire (90), Tielemans (90), Mbeumo (86), Fernandes (67), Santos (45) | Mazraoui (90), Mount (90), De Ligt (79), Baleba (45), Cunha (45), Amad (45), Zirkzee (23), Amass (11), Lacey (4) |
MANCHESTER UNITED
We’ll begin our Scout Notes on United’s dismal defeat with what happened post-match, as Bruno Fernandes (£11.8m) laid into the team’s tactical approach:
“It’s a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, but sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confidence.” – Bruno Fernandes post-match
Asked directly whether manager Michael Carrick got his tactics wrong, the Portuguese added:
“That’s on the manager and staff to see it, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable.” – Bruno Fernandes
Pretty critical stuff from the skipper, who was hooked – with a perturbed look on his face – shortly after the hour mark as United chased what was then a 3-0 deficit. There were no suggestions of an injury being behind that, simply another poor performance (in which he was by no means alone) and perhaps acceptance that the game had gone.
His replacement, Joshua Zirkzee (£5.3m), was the man responsible for a stoppage-time consolation effort, beating Como’s offside trap to convert a cross from fellow substitute Amad Diallo (£5.7m).
It is probably unlikely that we’ll see Fernandes himself drop to the bench, particularly in light of United’s current injury woes – Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) and Benjamin Sesko (£6.9m), for instance – but the same cannot be said of Mathus Cunha (£7.9m).
The temperamental Brazilian, already benched in Gameweek 7, had a bit of a tiff with Carrick in the first half and was then withdrawn at half-time, which surely doesn’t bode well for his chances of starting in Gameweek 8.
Might we instead see Zirkzee, who is yet to play 40 minutes in a match this season, let alone start one, finally get an opportunity up top, with Amad – Cunha’s replacement on Wednesday – and Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m) either side of Fernandes in support? Carrick, who had the following to say in response to his captain’s outburst, has little to lose at this point…
“We actually half pressed man to man in the second half and then conceded a goal from that, is a little bit on whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, but if you don’t run, you don’t run forward, you don’t run back, you aren’t going to win.” – Michael Carrick
Elsewhere, Diogo Dalot (£4.8m) – drifting high from right-back here, with Noussair Mazraoui (£4.3m) on the left in Luke Shaw’s (£4.3m) absence – was quickly made to regret an early chance fired wide of the post when Nico Paz, left in acres of space by Harry Maguire (£4.8m), broke the deadlock after 118 seconds to make United the first English team to concede in the first two minutes of consecutive major European matches. Mazraoui struggled throughout and so too did Matthijs de Ligt (£4.9m) on his first appearance in 11 months.
The problems – and rotation – continued in the middle of the park, too. Kobbie Mainoo (£5.5m) remains out and Carlos Baleba (£4.9m) dropped to the bench as one of four changes from Gameweek 7, leaving Mason Mount (£5.4m) and Andrey Santos (£4.7m) as the double pivot. Mount’s defensive shortcomings were evident but he was at least given a full run-out, whereas Santos was replaced by Baleba at the break having been booked inside the first half hour.
- Meanwhile, Fernandes being pushed into the frontline, given the sustained lack of an out-and-out striker, saw Youri Tielemans (£5.7m) deployed in a more advanced playmaking role. He was one showing glimmers of hope at times and linked up well with Mbeumo, but both were ultimately unable to make a decisive impact.
A slight sign of United momentum after the double half-time swap of Amad and Baleba for Cunha and Santos was soon wiped out by Como’s second, set up by the excellent Paz who then added a third before the hour mark following a slack pass from Baleba.
Amad had an effort tipped over the bar but it became 4-0 to the Italians – the better side in just about every facet of the game – with a quarter of an hour to play before Zirkzee’s late effort.
Lisandro Martinez (£4.9m), replaced at half-time in Gameweek 7 with a knock, was a no-show here, suggesting his participation in Gameweek 8 could be in doubt.
Ahead of this weekend’s meeting with Bournemouth, who played out two entertaining draws with the Red Devils last season, United are now winless in seven consecutive games in all competitions (D3 L4) for the first time since an eight-game run between November and December 2015.
ASTON VILLA
The mood was far better among supporters at Villa Park, where Unai Emery’s men made it three Champions League wins from three attempts.
It’s also three wins in a row and six games unbeaten in all competitions, with just one loss in their last nine. That’s quietened early murmurings of panic after a summer of upheaval.
For all the chatter about Villa’s new signings clicking into gear, it was Ross Barkley (£5.0m) who opened the scoring, netting his fourth goal of the campaign (three of which have come in this competition, together with one of his two assists overall).
“Firstly, as a person, he is a fantastic guy. Getting emotions together is important, and everyone needs to feel the same. Ross Barkley is a very good player with experience, and his career, I don’t know why, was going down after Chelsea. When we watched him at Luton, we thought, ‘Wow, what a player’.
“I am so happy with how he is playing his football for us, always being respectful whether he is playing or not playing. I am pushing him a lot offensively. I know he can score and can head the ball. I am very demanding of him offensively. I am happy for him.” – Unai Emery on Ross Barkley
It was a header at the near post that did it after 23 minutes, with the well-placed corner delivery supplied by Ibrahim Mbaye (£6.0m) – just as he did from a dead-ball situation a few weeks ago
.The teenager, who is yet to score for Villa but now has three assists in all competitions, provided a match-high three key passes in total, level with fellow winger Alysson (£4.9m), skipper John McGinn (£5.4m) and Emi Buendia (£5.9m).
Alysson was particularly impressive, with one of his match-high four successful dribbles (of six in total) drawing the penalty converted by Buendia to make it 2-0 shortly before halftime. After another dribble, another Fantasy assist came as his cross was deflected in by Viking left-back Henrik Heggheim, who had a torrid time against the 20-year-old.
Buendia, who has started every Premier League match and two of three so far in Europe, led his side with seven shots and seven touches in Viking’s box, recovering from sending a free header wide to bury the aforementioned spot-kick minutes later. It was Buendia who set Alysson off in the build-up to the third goal, too.
The diminutive Argentine started as Villa’s chosen No10 against Viking, with the in-form Johan Manzambi (£6.0m) missing out with the “small injury” that forced him off in Gameweek 7. Emery’s post-match comments suggest the latter’s fitness is being assessed day to day:
“I don’t know now. Tomorrow we will see about our players. Saturday [vs Man City in Gameweek 8] is in a few days. We must be ready in case he is not [ready], to stay consistent collectively. Individually, some players did one step forward, getting confidence and feeling comfortable. In case he can play, fantastic, but if not, then we wait for the next match [vs Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup next Wednesday]. I don’t know if he will be available [this weekend].” – Unai Emery on Johan Manzambi
Elsewhere, the versatile McGinn was back in the XI after a half-match rest in Gameweek 7 and duly created two ‘big chances’.
With the injury-prone Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m) given a night off after starting every Premier League match so far, McGinn played deeper in the engine room alongside Barkley while Joao Gomes (£5.5m) was required as a hybrid right-back (pushing on to become an additional central midfielder in possession) to give Matty Cash (£4.4m) a rest.
As he did last weekend when Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) joined Matteo Ruggeri (£4.5m) on Villa’s list of injured full-backs, Tyrone Mings (£4.5m) covered the left-back role and had a quiet but composed evening alongside centre-back pairing Victor Lindelof (£4.5m) – who made eight clearances – and Pau Torres (£4.4m).
At the other end, Nicolas Jackson (£6.6m) managed three shots on target and had two promising headers but failed to score in his 70 minutes on the pitch.
The oft-maligned Alejandro Garnacho (£5.7m) had probably the best display of Villa’s second-half substitutes, managing three shots in a brief but lively cameo, though the form of positional rivals like Mbaye and Alysson means he is unlikely to get much of a sustained look-in at present.
“[Mbaye and Alysson] are exploiting their quality. We have to feel strong in our structure and understand how we want to play and how we can feel strong. We are trying to be at the highest level possible. Today they improved and are getting more confident. It was a step forward for both players. Garnacho played 20 minutes and these were his best minutes with us. It is positive.” – Unai Emery on his wingers
