Newcastle United climbed to eighth in the Premier League after a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Goals from William Osula (£5.8m) and Harvey Barnes (£6.1m) secured the points, although the biggest FPL talking point came before kick-off, with Yoane Wissa (£6.1m) and Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) both benched.
Meanwhile, Palace remain 17th after another disappointing result, despite creating the better chances.
Here are our Scout Notes from Selhurst Park.
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TIME TO SELL WISSA + THIAW?
Newcastle’s upcoming fixtures against Fulham and Everton look appealing on paper, but there are now some concerns over the minutes of their most popular FPL assets.
Matthias Jaissle made five changes to his starting XI, with Wissa, Thiaw and Sven Botman (£5.0m) among those dropping to the bench.
Thiaw’s afternoon was particularly frustrating. Having watched Newcastle keep a clean sheet from the sidelines, Thiaw eventually replaced Amar Dedić (£4.5m) in the 95th minute, blocking potential points from FPL benches.
Wissa was introduced slightly earlier, replacing goalscorer Osula in the 77th minute, but failed to make an attacking impact.
So, any owners who stuck it out with the above pair most definitely have a case for moving those two on, as you’d expect Jaissle to (mostly) persist with the side that secured Sunday’s victory. Fabian Schär (£4.9m) and Dan Burn (£4.8m) both started at centre-half and helped Newcastle keep a clean sheet, while Wissa’s replacement, Osula, took his opportunity by scoring.
For owners of Lewis Hall (£5.3m), there’s not the immediate rush to sell, particularly with Fulham and Everton up next. The left-back completed 90 minutes, secured a clean sheet and has now started Newcastle’s last seven league matches.
The same goes for Barnes, although they’ll both be on the chopping block from Gameweek 11:
GAME OF TWO HALVES
It was the proverbial game of two halves at Selhurst Park. Newcastle struggled to create anything meaningful before the break, but emerged with far more attacking intent in the second half.
Within two minutes of the restart, Jacob Murphy (£5.9m) delivered an excellent cross from the right, allowing Osula to finish from close range.
The fit-again Danish forward was making his first Premier League start since the opening day of the season and certainly made the most of his opportunity.
Barnes doubled Newcastle’s advantage in the 58th minute, converting Dedić’s low cross to score his fourth league goal of the campaign.
The £6.1m midfielder registered five shots, more than anyone else in the Newcastle side, although those attempts produced just 0.27 xG. It’s classic Barnes; he tends to make the most of low-quality chances.
Murphy, also returning to the starting XI, led the way for chances created (four) and expected assists (xA, 0.28):
Just to make predicting Newcastle’s attacking line-up even more difficult going forward, Anthony Elanga (£6.0m) and Jacob Ramsey (£4.8m) both returned from injury to feature as substitutes.
Not that many FPL managers will be considering Magpies attackers anew.
DEDIĆ HAULS AS NEWCASTLE RIDE THEIR LUCK
One of the biggest FPL winners from Sunday’s match was Dedić.
Restored to the starting XI at right-back, the £4.5m defender assisted Barnes’ goal and helped Newcastle secure a clean sheet. Two bonus points completed an impressive 11-point haul.
Schär and Nico González (£5.5m) also benefited from the victory, both securing an additional two DefCon points.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Lukáš Horníček (£5.0m) made four saves, earning eight FPL points. He was particularly impressive in the second half, denying Adam Wharton (£5.4m) and substitute Darío Osorio (£5.4m) with excellent stops.
But did Newcastle really deserve a clean sheet? Crystal Palace finished with 1.82 xG compared with Newcastle’s 0.95, while the hosts also registered 17 attempts on goal.
The rolling xG graphic shows just how much Newcastle struggled early on:
So, while the result was excellent for Newcastle’s defensive assets, the underlying numbers suggest it was far from convincing.
MATETA WASTEFUL, PINO CREATIVE
A wasteful Palace will feel they should have made more of their earlier opportunities.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£6.3m) was the main culprit. The Frenchman registered three shots and 0.80 xG in just 61 minutes, missing both of Palace’s big chances.
Elsewhere, Yéremy Pino (£5.5m) was one of Palace’s better attacking performers.
The Spaniard created four chances, recording 0.23 xA, and was heavily involved in the hosts’ promising first-half attacks:
PALACE WOES CONTINUE
Palace remain 17th in the Premier League and have now won just once in their last six matches across all competitions.
Balancing domestic football with European commitments may be taking its toll, with Sunday’s defeat coming just three days after a 2-2 draw against Beşiktaş in Istanbul.
The Eagles were unchanged from that midweek fixture and started brightly, but their performance dropped considerably after the interval.
“I think we missed 15 minutes in this game: the first 15 minutes in the second-half.
“We left a lot of things in the dressing room and didn’t come back on the pitch with that, and when you give space, when you give all the aggression to the opponent, at the end you pay for that, and that was the case today.” – Pierre Sage
There was some consolation at the back. Axel Disasi (£4.4m) recorded 17 defensive contributions, while Richards managed 13, earning both players DefCon points.
Disasi also offered some attacking threat, registering four shots and 0.32 xG.
Not that Palace players, defensive or attacking, are anywhere near FPL radars at present. Struggling for form, they’ve also got a miserable fixture run ahead (bar Gameweeks 11, 12 and 16):
