Amongst Wednesday’s five all-Premier-League ties in the EFL Cup fourth round were Manchester City v Brighton and Hove Albion, plus Fulham v Crystal Palace.
Here are our latest Scout Notes, from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective.
RESULTS
| Score | Goals | Assists | Leading DefCons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man City 2-2 Brighton (4-3 pens) | Kovacic, Reis | Yalcouye, Rutter | Foden, Cherki | Rutter, Hadjam | Ayari (14), Reis (12), Costinha (12), Yalcouye (12), Guehi (11), Kovacic (11), Svoboda (11) |
| Fulham 0-1 Crystal Palace | Nketiah | Mingueza | Lerma (21), Richards (18), Ahanor (12), Hughes (12), Bassey (9) |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | Starting XI changes made from GW8 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Other mins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man City | 9 | Guehi (90), Cherki (90) | Rulli (90), Reis (90), Kovacic (90), Foden (90), O’Reilly (87), Lewis (76), Allan (61), Bouaddi (45), Samba (45), Ait-Nouri (45), McAidoo (45), Doku (29), Khusanov (14), Enzo (3) |
| Brighton | 8 | Gross (90), Ayari (90), Gomez (76) | Steele (90), Costinha (90), Boscagli (90), Hadjam (90), Svoboda (85), Yalcouye (81), Rutter (81), Hinshelwood (76), De Cuyper (14), Minteh (14), Wieffer (9), O’Riley (9), Dunk (5) |
| Fulham | 6 | Bassey (90), Robinson (90), Bobb (82), Iwobi (72), Larsson (58) | Lecomte (90), Andersen (90), Berge (90), Muniz (90), Tete (58), Palacios (58), Castagne (58), King (58), Cairney (58), Garcia (18), Kevin (8) |
| Crystal Palace | 10 | Richards (90) | Henderson (90), Lerma (90), Ahanor (90), Mingueza (90), Hughes (90), Osorio (77), Guessand (77), Nketiah (71), Doucoure (61), Chilwell (61), Wharton (29), Mitchell (29), McNeil (19), Kamada (13), Pino (13) |
SCOUT NOTES
MANCHESTER CITY
Five key Man City players – Erling Haaland (£15.8m), Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.5m), Ruben Dias (£5.5m), Josko Gvardiol (£5.7m) and Elliot Anderson (£6.3m) – were given the night off after the Gameweek 8 loss at Villa Park.
Nine changes were made, such as Gerónimo Rulli (£4.9m) coming in between the posts. Although the Argentine goalkeeper’s concessions saw City fall behind twice, he stopped successive Brighton penalties to ultimately win the shootout. Is Donnarumma still the main stopper after some shaky recent performances, Enzo?
“Absolutely no doubt. Saturday, Gigio plus 10.” – Enzo Maresca on Gianluigi Donnarumma remaining Man City’s first-choice goalkeeper
In came Phil Foden (£6.8m), too, after being forced to settle for a place on the bench in Gameweek 8 despite scoring four goals across his previous two matches in all competitions. The Englishman delivered a solid performance, reacting quickest to keep one play alive after claims of Brighton handball. He knocked the ball to Mateo Kovacic (£5.3m), who rifled home a first-half equaliser from distance.
- Then, it was Foden’s dangerous dribble that won Man City a free-kick on the edge of the area, which was taken by Rayan Cherki (£8.0m) and deflected in off the heel of Vitor Reis (£4.4m) – one of two City players to earn defensive contribution (DefCon) points alongside Marc Guehi (£6.0m). The latter kept his place despite a calamitous 45 minutes at the weekend.
“Rayan [Ait-Nouri] was good, Phil [Foden] was good, Mateo [Kovacic] was very good, Vitor [Reis] was very good. It’s good because some of them are not playing many minutes but it’s important that when we need them, they’re ready, and tonight they were ready.” – Enzo Maresca
“Tonight for me was very good. Phil has to continue in the same way because he’s working well and for sure he’s going to help us.” – Enzo Maresca
Still, the trouble with Foden for FPL managers is that we can’t predict his starts with any degree of certainty. He played the full 90 here, fielded as Man City’s right-sided midfielder but often drifting centrally alongside Cherki.
- The Frenchman also played a full game, after being replaced by Foden at half-time on Saturday. He fired out a match-high six shots (only one being on target), while creating four for others.
Unused substitute Iliman Ndiaye (£5.8m) is the main threat to Foden’s game time on the right, with Jeremy Doku (£7.5m) – who made a notable impact off the bench – surely a shoo-in to return on the left. As is often the case, that probably leaves Cherki and Foden competing for the number 10 role, which isn’t handy.
- Elsewhere, things are a little easier to predict for Gameweek 9. We expect Enzo Fernandez (£6.9m) and Anderson back in the engine room together, Haaland up top, Gvardiol at left-back instead of Nico O’Reilly (£6.2m), plus one of Rico Lewis (£4.3m) – who started here – or Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.3m) at right-back.
Regardless of personnel, the fact that Man City twice fell behind and were on the back foot for large stretches – Brighton were superior for expected goals (xG, 2.03 vs 0.76), shots (17 to 13) and big chances (3 v 1) – means they’ll have to be careful against the same opponent for Saturday’s league rematch.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Indeed, Fabian Hurzeler promised post-match that his side would be out to “take revenge” when they return to the Etihad Stadium.
- The Brighton boss expects to have full-back Ferdi Kadıoğlu (£4.4m) and midfielder Chema Andrés (£5.5m) available for selection on Saturday after the pair suffered hip injuries.
Yankuba Minteh (£5.8m) made his first appearance of the campaign, coming off the bench late on for Diego Gomez (£5.0m). As for Maxim De Cuyper (£5.3m), whose main left-wing competitor, Kaoru Mitoma (£5.9m), isn’t due back until after the next international break, he made a cameo appearance and scored in the shootout.
- Only Gomez, Pascal Gross (£6.2m) and Yasin Ayari (£5.4m) kept their starting spots from Gameweek 8’s loss to Liverpool. The German had a moderately quiet evening, shooting twice – including one which went just wide of the post – and creating two chances, but with nothing to show for it.
Ayari, one of four Seagulls to hit the DefCon threshold, saw his penalty saved by Rulli. As did Lewis Dunk (£4.5m).
- Meanwhile, fellow DefCon deliverer Malick Yalcouye (£4.5m) netted Brighton’s opener, smacking a close-range shot so hard that Rulli couldn’t keep it out.
- Up top, Georginio Rutter (£5.3m) had a productive evening. His cross caused Yalcouye to break the deadlock, then scoring himself just minutes into the second half following a cutback. The French forward later forced a fingertip save from Rulli and also rounded the City stopper on another occasion before firing into the side netting.
- Still, a full Rutter run-out plus the league form of Charalampos Kostoulas (£5.8m) suggests the latter should still be first choice. Kostoulas was given the night off on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Jack Hinshelwood (£5.9m) got 76 more minutes under his belt as Brighton’s number 10. It’s good news for him personally, building fitness post-injury, but perhaps not a sign that he’ll start in Gameweek 9.
FULHAM
- Fulham started well in this home London derby. But defenders Antonee Robinson (£4.4m), Joachim Andersen (£5.0m) and Kenny Tete (£4.4m) were unable to put away early shots on target from inside the box.
In fact, throughout the evening, the Cottagers couldn’t convert any of their 14 shots, of which only four were directed at the Crystal Palace goalmouth.
- Alex Iwobi (£5.4m) was responsible for Fulham’s fourth big miss, while Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m) remains wasteful. The Spaniard’s late header needed a save.
- Neither Garcia nor fellow substitutes like Josh King (£5.6m) could really impact the game. Winning Gameweek 8 scorer Oscar Bobb (£5.5m) probably posed the biggest threat, creating five chances.
- None of the backline even hit the hypothetical DefCon threshold. Fantasy interest in Fulham should be minimal moving forward, as they’re about to face Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Man City and Bournemouth.
CRYSTAL PALACE
This was a small sigh of relief for Pierre Sage, whose side are struggling in the Premier League but now find themselves in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
- Eddie Nketiah’s (£5.4m) deft flick from an Oscar Mingueza (£4.3m) cross was the difference maker, Palace’s sole first-half shot.
Indeed, the Eagles eked out a victory – extending their unbeaten streak at Craven Cottage to nearly 22 years – despite just 26% possession and four shots to Fulham’s 14. Furthermore, six penalty area touches fell well short of their hosts’ 29.
- There probably aren’t many FPL lessons to be taken from this one, knowing Sage made 10 changes to the XI that started Gameweek 8’s loss to Newcastle. He handed Cheick Doucoure (£4.8m) his first competitive senior appearance since January 2025.
First-choice goalkeeper Dean Henderson (£4.9m) was also back after nearly two months of injury. He made two particularly smart stops to deny Iwobi and Garcia.
- Chris Richards (£4.9m), gatherer of 18 DefCon actions, was the only mainstay from Sunday, and Palace’s backline did look more solid with experienced FPL midfielder Jefferson Lerma (£4.8m) there too. Perhaps this duo, plus either Jaydee Canvot (£4.8m) or Axel Disasi (£4.4m), is the way forward.
Elsewhere, these events sparked clamour among some online Palace fans online for Oscar Mingueza (£4.3m). Since arriving in the summer, he has zero league starts to his name but assisted this winner. Could he soon get the nod over hitherto first-choice right wing-back Anan Khalaili (£5.0m)? Something to keep an eye on, perhaps.
- Yeremy Pino (£5.5m) looked good after coming on, following a decent display last weekend. And Dwight McNeil‘s (£5.3m) cameo was also lively, delivering two shots on target and a big chance.
Still, Palace’s overall poor form and largely unappealing fixtures mean FPL interest should probably remain low. At least for the time being.
