Our penultimate set of Scout Notes from Gameweek 12 rounds up the goals, assists, Fantasy talking points and manager quotes from the matches contested at Selhurst Park and St. James’ Park on Saturday.
Kieran Trippier and Wilfried Zaha were among the assets whose weekend was affected by injury as Spurs edged out Crystal Palace thanks to a goal from the ultimate Fantasy Premier League differential.
Two-goal Salomon Rondon inspired Newcastle to a second successive victory, meanwhile, and we will analyse his credentials as a budget forward in the article below.
Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
- Goal: Juan Foyth (£5.0m)
- Assist: Harry Kane (£12.4m)
Injuries were the main talking point after the Saturday evening kick-off at Selhurst Park, be it knocks picked up during the rain-soaked London derby or fitness issues that caused a couple of Fantasy assets to miss the match altogether.
Wilfried Zaha‘s (£6.8m) name was unexpectedly missing from the Crystal Palace teamsheet for the visit of Mauricio Pochettino’s side, a particular surprise given that his manager reported no new injury concerns in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Roy Hodgson said after the defeat to Spurs:
He picked up a hamstring injury against Chelsea and it was always extremely unlikely he would recover in time, basically, it is trying to get him fit for Manchester United.
But Wilf being Wilf he didn’t want to rule himself out, and he always believed that despite the fact he didn’t train, he hoped something would happen between Friday and today to get him out there, but that wasn’t the case as both my doctors and physio staff had told me would not happen.
Hodgson’s injury problems worsened during the match, with James Tomkins (£4.3m) forced off on 59 minutes.
His manager said:
That was a blow that, he got a knock on the knee. I don’t think it is a knee injury that has come about through something that has been torn or twisted.
I think it was simply a clash or bad bruising on the knee, but you could see that it was restricting his movement.
I think he wanted to carry on and we wanted to give him a few minutes to try, but it was obvious to me that he was limping around and doing that gamefully, but unfortunately, we had to take him off and that is always a blow.[Martin] Kelly came on and did extremely well too, but it was a disruption and soon after they scored from the corner-kick.
Spurs had their own setbacks, with Davinson Sanchez (£5.8m) ruled out ahead of the match, and Kieran Trippier (£6.3m) and Erik Lamela (£6.5m) forced off during the game after picking up injuries.
Trippier left the field of play after 23 minutes and, to the chagrin of his owners, Spurs went on to record a first clean sheet in three Premier League fixtures without him.
Pochettino provided an update on the England full-back after full-time:
It was his groin. I hope it’s not a big issue. We don’t know. We need to see, the doctors and medical staff will assess him and then the medical staff of England and they will see if he’s going to be involved or not.
Sanchez missed out with a hamstring injury picked up in the win over PSV last week, while Lamela was substituted on 82 minutes after suffering a nasty head wound. The Argentinean midfielder later took to social media though to say he was “feeling good”, and with it being two weeks before Spurs are next in action, the injury would appear unlikely to affect his chances of featuring in Gameweek 13.
Juan Foyth (£5.0m) started in the sidelined Sanchez’s stead and was Spurs’ match-winner, nodding past Wayne Hennessey (£4.6m) after Harry Kane‘s (£12.4m) header from a corner had a struck a Palace defender.
Foyth’s perfect evening ended with a clean sheet and maximum bonus, though the young centre-half’s 15-point haul was enjoyed by precious few FPL managers: the Argentinean defender was selected in only 84 Fantasy squads worldwide and was even benched by 29 of those managers.
Even at a cut-price £5.0m and after an impressive display at Selhurst Park, Foyth remains merely a name to monitor in the coming weeks, with Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen (£5.9m) set to return to fitness soon to offer competition at centre-back.
Pochettino was effusive though about the young defender’s performance:
He is so clever and he has a lot of potential. His quality I have no doubt of and he only needs time and games to improve and show his real quality.
With experience, he’s going to improve and not make mistakes, or less mistakes.
Intelligent, smart. He’s so mature. I think he’s a player who for me has all the potential with experience of games one day to be one of the best centre-backs in Europe.
With the Champions League and EFL Cup complicating an already congested fixture schedule, Spurs will now contest two matches a week from the resumption of play after the international break right through to the New Year.
Foyth will unquestionably get game-time during this period and likely a handful of Premier League appearances as well, but at a time of year when we need near-certain starters in our Fantasy squads, the rookie centre-half remains way down our watchlist.
Hugo Lloris (£5.4m) did his bit to help preserve Spurs’ fifth clean sheet of the season (his fourth in eight starts), though in truth not one of the four stops he made was anything other than routine in nature.
Lloris indeed looked unconvincing when flapping at a Palace set-piece and caused a few skipped heartbeats with his questionable distribution, though the fact remains that the French shot-stopper is averaging more points per game (5.3) than any FPL goalkeeper this season and has a better save percentage and expected goals prevented (xGP) tally than any of the custodians at other top-flight clubs.
With Spurs’ fixtures turning for the better in Gameweek 15 and Lloris one of the few names almost guaranteed to be on the teamsheet every week, the World Cup-winning goalkeeper is a name to seriously consider for those FPL managers who like to eschew the budget options in favour of a premium pick between the posts.
Pochettino said of Lloris after full-time:
I am happy with him. They are not machines and they can have up and downs. Hugo has the same. I am supportive of all the players, not only Hugo. But Hugo is one of the best, there’s no doubt.
Spurs had the best of the game in the first half but, Foyth’s goal aside, only had one other shot on target in the whole 90 minutes: a Kane effort from distance that Hennessey palmed away.
Both of the Spurs striker’s attempts from inside the box – including his “assist” for Foyth’s winner – came from corner-kick situations and Kane wasn’t a particular menace from open play, continuing his now-familiar tendency to wander into midfield and collect the ball from deep.
Dele Alli (£8.9m) made his first league start since Gameweek 4 and was another premium Spurs asset who was deeper than his few remaining owners would like, retreating to form a three-man central midfield with Victor Wanyama and the impressive Moussa Sissoko (both £4.9m) and only occasionally threatening the Palace goal – Alli’s one touch inside the Palace box came when heading over a Ben Davies (£5.6m) cross.
Lucas Moura (£7.2m) and Lamela were similarly peripheral figures going forward, registering only three penalty box touches between them – though Moura should have hit the target when heading over from close range just before half-time.
Christian Eriksen (£9.2m) continues to be handled carefully by Pochettino following his recovery from an abdominal injury – the Danish playmaker was an unused substitute on Saturday and, for those managers looking at Spurs assets for that fixture turn in Gameweek 15, Eriksen is now running out of matches with which to “audition” for our squads.
For Palace, this was Groundhog Day: a fifth blank at home in 2018/19 and a 13th straight defeat when deprived of the services of Zaha.
Andros Townsend and Jordan Ayew (both £5.7m) battled manfully up front and tested Lloris without ever posing the same threat as their absent Ivorian colleague brings, while substitute Alexander Sorloth (£4.8m) fired straight at the Spurs goalkeeper from an excellent position to underscore his own unconvincing credentials in attack.
That Tomkins posed Palace’s biggest threat from set-piece situations summed up their night, with the Eagles’ centre-half having three headed attempts on goal before his early withdrawal.
Hodgson talked of his striking options after the match when asked about potential activity in the January transfer window:
The fact is, at the moment we have a lot of injuries, with [Christian] Benteke injured, [Connor] Wickham injured, [Wilf] Zaha injured, so at the moment, of course, we are not blessed with a lot of opportunities up front.
But who knows? By the time January comes around, all those three players might be playing and there might be other areas we need to strengthen.
That’s one, and two, I haven’t had any real discussions as yet with the owners to find out if any money is going to be made available in January to buy players.
Those FPL managers sitting on Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.2m) for Palace’s easier run of fixtures from Gameweek 14 onwards would have been pleased to see another sterling performance from the youngster at right-back, even if he and the Palace backline haven’t kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 6.
Crystal Palace XI (4-4-2): Hennessey; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins (Kelly 59′) Sakho, van Aanholt; McArthur (Sorloth 70′) Milivojevic, Kouyate, Meyer (Schlupp 66′); Ayew, Townsend.
Tottenham Hotspur XI (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Trippier (Aurier 23′), Foyth, Alderweireld, Davies; Sissoko, Wanyama; Lamela (Winks 83′), Alli, Lucas (Son 70′); Kane.
Newcastle United 2-1 Bournemouth
- Goals: Salomon Rondon (£5.7m) x2 | Jefferson Lerma (£4.5m)
- Assists: Kenedy (£4.9m) | Ryan Fraser (£6.2m)
For clubs scrapping for survival at the bottom of the Premier League, having a fit and firing striker to call upon is a huge leg-up in the battle to beat the drop.
It remains to be seen if Salomon Rondon‘s (£5.7m) brace at the weekend was anything other than a flash in the pan and whether he can challenge the likes of Raul Jimenez (£5.8m) and Danny Ings (£5.5m) for the budget third forward spot in our FPL squads, but the Venezuelan striker certainly has fixtures on his side between now and Boxing Day – Newcastle don’t meet any of the “big six” until that point.
There was nothing wrong with Rondon’s underlying statistics at the weekend, either: no FPL forward had more attempts on goal, shots in the box, efforts on target, big chances or penalty box touches than the on-loan West Bromwich Albion target-man in Gameweek 12.
Rondon was too much for the Bournemouth backline to handle on Saturday, particularly in the air, while both of his goals stemmed from crosses from the flanks.
Newcastle’s number nine followed up his own blocked shot to stab home the Magpies’ opener on six minutes, before evoking memories of Les Ferdinand with a crashing header from a Kenedy (£4.9m) cross shortly before the interval.
Rondon had a superb chance to seal his hat-trick late in the game when sent clear by substitute Isaac Hayden (£4.4m), but could only find the outstretched leg of Asmir Begovic (£4.5m).
Rafael Benitez paid tribute to his striker after full-time:
Rondon did well – he has to improve his fitness but he was working well and trying to fight the defenders. He showed what he can do and is giving us something different.
I’m really pleased with him. He’s strong and still, he can improve. He will be better physically if he keeps training well. He can do even better.
We knew about the conditions to sign him, for this price to get a striker of this experience in the Premier League is not easy. We knew his mentality. We knew he could give us something different.
Fitness is the key with Rondon, given that this was only the second game this season in which he has completed 90 minutes for the Magpies and just his fifth start in total.
We shouldn’t expect too much from the Venezuelan striker, of course: in three seasons with West Brom, he didn’t break the ten-goal barrier once.
Rondon’s goal conversion rates in both 2016/17 and 2017/18 were also among the lowest in the division.
There is a sense, though, that he could potentially prosper in a side that contains wingers in the mould of Kenedy and Matt Ritchie (£5.8m), as well as a reliable set-piece taker in Ki Sung-yueng (£4.7m).
Only four FPL midfielders have delivered more crosses than Ritchie this season.
Kenedy put in another committed display on the left flank but, for those Fantasy managers tempted by the Brazilian as a budget midfielder, he had only one effort on goal and his cross for Rondon’s header was his only key pass of the match.
Federico Fernandez (£4.4m) delivered another commanding performance at centre-back, while the marauding DeAndre Yedlin (£4.5m) was unlucky not to collect an assist for his role in Rondon’s first goal.
Set-pieces remain a weakness for the Newcastle backline, however, and Bournemouth’s best opportunities mostly came from dead-ball situations.
Ryan Fraser (£6.2m) always looked likely to prosper from the Magpies’ frailties at set plays, stinging the hands of Martin Dubravka (£5.0m) with a direct free-kick and setting up Steve Cook (£4.6m) for a “big chance” with another teasing delivery before finally getting his reward with an assist for Jefferson Lerma‘s (£4.5m) headed goal just before the break.
Substitute Dan Gosling (£4.8m) also bundled the ball into the net from a corner-kick situation in the second half, only for the assistant referee’s flag to come to Newcastle’s rescue.
Callum Wilson (£6.8m) and David Brooks (£5.1m), reprising their partnership up front, had only one sight of goal each on a quiet afternoon for the pair, while Junior Stanislas (£6.0m) and Joshua King (£6.3m) missed the game with groin and ankle injuries respectively.
Bournemouth picked up another, serious-looking injury during the match when Adam Smith (£4.5m) was stretchered off in the first half.
Eddie Howe said of his injured defender:
I spoke to him before I came into the press conference, he injured his knee in an earlier tackle. He felt slightly unstable and went to take a quick free-kick, and his knee has just given way.
It looks like a serious one, we won’t know until it’s scanned but it doesn’t look good. I don’t think it’s a cruciate but it would be foolish of me to give a clear view without a scan.
Charlie Daniels (£4.2m) or Sergio Rico (£4.3m) may stand to benefit from Smith’s absence at left-back, with Daniels brought on to replace Smith in the defeat on Tyneside.
Jordon Ibe (£5.1m) was handed a rare start on the wing but the positive news for Brooks and Fraser’s Fantasy owners regarding competition on the flanks was that the former Liverpool midfielder failed to impress, wasting one glorious opportunity when unmarked in the Newcastle box.
Newcastle United XI (4-4-1-1): Dubravka; Yedlin, Schar, Fernandez, Dummett; Ritchie (Hayden 74′), Diame (Atsu 80′), Ki, Kenedy (Clark 78′); Perez; Rondon.
Bournemouth XI (4-4-1-1): Begovic; Francis, S Cook, Ake, Smith (Daniels 30′); Ibe (Defoe 82′), Lerma (Gosling 46′), L Cook, Fraser; Brooks; Wilson.
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