Salah and Mané show promise despite blanks against Spurs

Saturday’s early kick-off proved a nervy one for Fantasy Premier League managers who had sold Liverpool assets.

The Reds were comfortably the better team at Wembley but ultimately their highly-owned Fantasy assets could not convert that into points.

In this latest Scout Notes article, we’ve taken a look at exactly how that could impact the Fantasy landscape going forward.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-2 LIVERPOOL

Goals: Erik Lamela (£6.4m) | Georginio Wijnaldum (£5.5m), Roberto Firmino (£9.4m)

Assists: Christian Eriksen (£9.3m)

The decision of some Fantasy managers to reduce the size of their Liverpool contingent was justified on Saturday lunch-time. However, several of the Reds’ premium assets were close to registering points in the match and could still offer potential going forward.

Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) blanked for the second match in a row but was joint-top for shots in the box for the encounter. His colleague Sadio Mané (£10.0m) registered the same number as him, with an additional effort outside the penalty area to boot.

Furthermore, Salah was joint-top in the match for chances created while Mané could have registered an assist were it not for an unorthodox combination of touches on his cross for Roberto Firmino‘s (£9.4m) goal.

Jan Vertonghen (£6.0m) touched his square pass onto the post, it cannoned back off it across the goal-line before Michel Vorm (£5.0m) got a touch in trying to claim it. That left Firmino unchallenged to tap in, but Mané should definitely take credit for his part in the goal, even if it was not worthy of an assist.

Liverpool were the much more attacking side and on any other day, either of Salah or Mané might have recorded some attacking returns. Their underlying numbers certainly suggest they still have something to offer, even if they were outshone by Eden Hazard‘s (£10.7m) hat-trick later in the day. Manager Jurgen Klopp admitted that the scoreline was not a fair reflection of the match and that his side could have scored more.

“The performance today, for me, was better than the result. The result is the most important and was perfect, winning here is unbelievably difficult and you can never expect that.” – Jurgen Klopp

James Milner (£5.6m) may well prove better value than his premium-priced colleagues at a time when Fantasy managers are contemplating reducing their spend on Liverpool options.

He played the same number of key passes in the match as Salah, is also on set pieces and is the designated penalty taker when he is on the pitch.

There was some uncertainty over Milner’s place in the side during pre-season, but he has now started every Premier League match so far. In that time he has set up two goals and scored one of his own. At Wembley, it was his corner which led to Georginio Wijnaldum‘s (£5.5m) headed goal although he was not credited with an assist.

Firmino now has two goals in his last two games but may be a doubt for Gameweek 6. He picked up an eye injury after Vertonghen caught him in the face with his hand. Further assessment is required for the Brazilian.

Despite conceding a late Erik Lamela (£6.4m) goal, Liverpool’s defence is still proving that they are still worth investing in, even if their fixtures look difficult.

Spurs offered little going forward and none of their three shots on target was considered to be a big chance. That means Liverpool remain the best side in the league for big chances allowed.

“Defending against the ball, we were brilliant. We caused Tottenham a lot of problems in these situations. They are so good and so tuned and do it so confidently to pass through the lines that you need to be outstandingly brave and ready to close these gaps. They are really big sometimes, so it’s really difficult. But we did that, and I was happy with the ball how we controlled the game.” – Jurgen Klopp

However, it does appear that paying upwards of £6.0m for Andrew Robertson may prove too much when options such as Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.0m) and Joe Gomez (£5.0m) are also available. The former continued to take direct free-kicks at Wembley and could easily start to find some returns soon. His owners can certainly consider themselves a little lucky that he was substituted before Lamela’s late goal and banked clean sheet points.

Fantasy managers interested in Liverpool should also make themselves aware of Klopp’s repeated suggestions of rotation. Saturday’s match saw just Jordan Henderson (£5.3m) come out of the side, with Naby Keita (£7.4m) coming in. But it’s PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday night and more changes are expected for Gameweek 6.

“I’m not sure if we can do it on Tuesday and then next Saturday again. We have to show that. Then we have to play against Paris Saint-Germain. They won yesterday without Neymar and Mbappe so they could rest players in the league, but that’s Tuesday and not today.” – Jurgen Klopp

As for Spurs, it was another sluggish display for Harry Kane (£12.5m). He had just two shots in the match as he continues to underperform when it comes to underlying numbers. Yet again, he dropped deep trying to win possession and simply does not look worth spending £12.5m of our FPL budgets on.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino was asked if Kane was being affected by playing in a two-man attack with Lucas Moura (£7.3m) but refused to give much of a substantial answer.

“I think I respect every single opinion, but for me, it’s a collective problem. I am not going to put the finger on some player. I am happy with all the players. The circumstances are the circumstance. I told you the challenge is massive this season. We need to give time to the players to get their best and of course to show our potential in time.” – Mauricio Pochettino

Spurs’ defence does not look particularly trustworthy either. They still have just one clean in 2018/19, look vulnerable on the counter-attack and down their right-flank especially. Michel Vorm (£5.0m) was somewhat at fault for Wijnaldum’s first-half goal and even though Pochettino refused to blame him for it, his decision making in key moments was poor. His presence in the Spurs goal reduces the appeal of defensive assets further with Hugo Lloris (£5.5m) out injured.

“That is a mistake from…if you ask me if it was his mistake, I think it wasn’t his mistake because maybe my vision is different. Was a complicated situation. If you analyse the action then maybe you put the focus on a different player. Michel was involved and the team, which is responsible and I am responsible but it wasn’t the problem with not getting the three points today, I am happy with his performance. It is not easy in four seasons to be in the shadow of Lloris.” – Mauricio Pochettino

At the very least, Pochettino is prepared to admit that his team is not performing at its best, although he would not attribute it entirely to the World Cup. No Premier League side had more players still present in Russia by the final weekend of the summer tournament.

“I don’t want now to complain about the World Cup. From the beginning, I told you it’s a massive challenge, the toughest season since we started. It’s a challenge to work with a team that arrived a few days before the start of the competition. But I’m not going to complain. I think because after three victories all was fantastic and now after two defeats, it’s not a disaster. The most important is to keep the balance. I am not worried I promise you. We are going to win a lot of games. I trust completely in my squad, not 100 per cent but 200 per cent. That is my feeling. I’ve not changed my feeling from one or two months ago.” – Mauricio Pochettino

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR XI (4-2-3-1): Vorm, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier (Wanyama 83′), Dembele (Lamela 59’), Winks (Son 73′), Eriksen, Lucas, Kane.

LIVERPOOL XI (4-3-3): Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Matip 90′), Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Keita (Sturridge 83′), Milner, Salah, Firmino (Henderson 74′), Mane.

READ MORE GAMEWEEK 5 SCOUT NOTES

• Spurs 1-2 Liverpool
• Bournemouth 4-2 Leicester
• Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff
• Huddersfield 0-1 Crystal Palace
• Man City 3-0 Fulham
• Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal (coming soon)
• Watford 1-2 Man United (coming soon)
• Wolves 1-0 Burnley
• Everton 1-3 West Ham

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