Aubameyang plays 90 minutes ahead of Gameweek 6

Three Premier League sides were in European action on Thursday night.

Just as we saw with the Champions League matches, these midweek encounters provided some clues to Gameweek 6 team selection.

In this latest Scout Notes article, we have all the details on goals, assists and Fantasy talking points from the opening round of Europa League action.

Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Arsenal

Goals: Joe Willock (£5.0m), Bukayo Saka (£4.5m), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m)

Assists: Saka x2, Nicolas Pépé (£9.4m)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) had to play the full 90 minutes as Arsenal beat Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night.

The centre-forward is currently benefitting from increased and more guaranteed game-time in Premier League matches with Alexandre Lacazette (£9.4m) out injured relatively long-term.

However, the knock-on effect of the Frenchman’s absence is that Aubameyang is also committed to extensive usage in the Europa League as well as domestic competitions.

As this was Arsenal’s first match on the continent this season it remains unseen what impact Thursday night action will have on his Sunday afternoon performances.

However, it is still something worth considering as Fantasy managers carefully weigh up the captaincy options for Gameweek 6, when Arsenal host Aston Villa.

Aubameyang will almost certainly start against Dean Smith’s men, as Unai Emery has little choice in the way of alternatives, but he will perhaps not be quite as well-prepared as his owners might have wished.

The Gabonese international still managed to extend his decent start to the season in Germany though, adding his sixth goal in all competitions.

His strike was the third and final one of the night as Arsenal left it until the closing stages of the game to truly wrap up an impressive result.

This win was certainly an impressive one for the Gunners, inflicting a first home European defeat on Eintracht since 2006, ending a 16-game unbeaten run.

There were strong performances at both ends of the pitch, most notably from winger Bukayo Saka (£4.5m) who was involved in every single goal.

He was at the heart of Arsenal’s best chances in the first half, crossing for Lucas Torreira (£4.9m) to blast over the bar before setting up Joe Willock (£5.0m) for his goal down the left.

Saka then added a spectacular goal of his own in the 85th minute as he curled one into the back of the net. The 18-year-old set Aubameyang up in the 87th minute to cap off a memorable night.

It might be some time before we see Saka used extensively in the Premier League but the fact he has been added as a £4.5m midfielder is something to be aware of for the coming months.

“Their performance tonight was good and they deserve it. Maybe with his [Saka] goal, with his performance, but also in the match taking confidence, finishing really strongly physically.” – Unai Emery

Another impressive performance from Willock, who is much closer to the first-team picture than Saka, will also be of encouragement.

The £5.0m midfielder started the first three matches of the season for Arsenal, although only managed 30 minutes across Gameweeks 4 and 5.

He could have come away from this Europa League match with more than just the one goal if it were not for an inspired display from Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.

“Willock also, progressively he was feeling better and with a good performance.” – Unai Emery

As already mentioned, Torreira should probably have found the net on Thursday night and it seems that Emery is keen to use him in a more advanced role moving forward.

The Uruguayan international was officially deployed in the holding section of the 4-2-3-1 formation but made plenty of runs into the penalty box. That said, he has started just once in the Premier League so far this season so we may need to wait for him to become a viable asset.

“Tonight he played very well and I think this season it’s the first match he was physically very good. He finished it getting into the box. I want to use his quality and his quality is to be focused every time and with the possibility to push, with good pressing and with the possibility to get into the box to score. After when we need some control on the ball in the build-up he can help us.” – Unai Emery

Even though Aubameyang was forced into a full 90-minute shift, Emery was largely able to give a rest to some assets that have garnered Fantasy interest in recent weeks.

Nicolas Pépé (£9.4m) dropped to the bench on Thursday night, coming on in the 60th minute only because Emile Smith-Rowe picked up an injury.

“With (Smith-Rowe), we need to work on the pitch and outside. Last year he started well with us, played some matches. After he left on loan here in Germany, he came back injured. He played some matches with the U23s. Today is a big challenge and a big opportunity. We need to protect him, he worked very well. I was very happy with him and I told him that.” – Unai Emery

Like Aubameyang, Pépé furthered his FPL appeal by getting himself an attacking return ahead of likely starting against Aston Villa, assisting Saka’s 85th-minute goal.

“For example, Pépé played tonight 30 minutes and we are happy with him but we know progressively he is going to do more.” – Unai Emery

Also getting limited game-time for Arsenal was Dani Ceballos (£5.7m), who replaced Willock in the 72nd minute.

That should also lock in his starting place against Aston Villa after featuring from the beginning in the Gameweek 5 draw with Watford.

The same goes for Ainsley Maitland-Niles (£5.1m) who played 10 minutes as a substitute for Sead Kolašinac (£5.4m).

It looks as if Emery had not intended for the right wing-back to take the field at all against Frankfurt, but was forced into bringing him on as Kolašinac had to limp off.

“He played Sunday, tonight, and he can feel some small problem but I think it’s not serious.” – Unai Emery

There were some concerns about Arsenal’s back-line when the team sheet revealed a centre-back combination of David Luiz (£5.9m) and Shkodran Mustafi (£5.3m).

It also featured Calum Chambers (£4.4m) at right-back, but despite Frankfurt creating plenty of chances down that side of the pitch, the Gunners still managed to keep a clean sheet.

“[Calum] Chambers played right back very seriously. Everybody can be happy.” – Unai Emery

They were helped in their defensive effort by an impressive performance from goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez (£4.4m), who made a string of decent saves.

Emery should have more options available to him in defence soon as Rob Holding (£4.5m), Kieran Tierney (£5.4m) and Hector Bellerín (£5.4m) continue to approach a first-team return.

“Rob Holding is very close to us and tomorrow Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin are going to play in the Under-23s.” – Unai Emery

Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Martínez; Kolašinac (Maitland-Niles 80′), D Luiz, Mustafi, Chambers; Xhaka, Torreira; Saka, Willock (Ceballos 72′), Smith-Rowe (Pépé 60′); Aubameyang.

Man United 1-0 Astana

Goals: Mason Greenwood (£4.5m)

Assists: Fred (£5.3m)

Mason Greenwood (£4.5m) furthered his Fantasy appeal in Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Astana on Thursday night.

The youngster initially played on the right flank of a 4-2-3-1 formation and scored his first career goal in the second half.

It was a switched to the centre-forward position that unlocked his potential somewhat, leading to him netting the winning strike in the 73rd minute.

Given that there are still plenty of injuries in advanced positions for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, Greenwood should fancy his chances of starting against West Ham in Gameweek 6.

He was easily one of Manchester United’s best players in the Europa League meeting proving a threat both from out wide and through the middle.

Solskjaer continues to talk about Greenwood in glowing terms and insists his first Premier League start is not far away.

“It’s always hard to keep players who perform well out of the team. If he keeps scoring goals when he’s on the pitch he’ll get more minutes in the Premier League as well, and he’ll get his first start soon.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Greenwood’s prospects are helped by continued fitness problems for Paul Pogba (£8.5m), Anthony Martial (£7.7m) and Daniel James (£6.2m).

All three players missed the Thursday night match and continue to be injury doubts for the Gameweek 6 trip to West Ham.

The expected absence of Martial and possibly James are the key factors in Greenwood’s chances of starting as it means options in attacking midfield and up-front are limited.

“Not really, no (asked if Pogba and Martial will be ready for Gameweek 6). They’ve not been training yet so I don’t think so. [Luke Shaw] won’t be ready.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

“I don’t know (if James will be ready for Gameweek 6). He’s not trained in the last few days. Hopefully, but not sure. We’ll have a recovery day with everyone tomorrow and we’ll see on Saturday.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Initially, it was Tahith Chong (£4.4m) and Greenwood on the flanks of attacking midfield against Astana with Marcus Rashford (£8.5m) but Solskjaer made changes in the second half.

The latter struggled in a number nine position and earned plenty of criticism from the local press for regularly running into tight spots and losing the ball.

However, United looked much better when he was pushed out wide, bringing Greenwood into the centre, which could foreshadow how Solskjaer lines up his troops at the London Stadium.

There was not much else for Fantasy managers to learn from this match, other than that Solskjaer clearly has alternatives he is prepared to use in defence for Europa League matches.

Sergio Romero (£4.9m) played in goal, while Marcos Rojo (£4.8m) and Diogo Dalot (£4.9m) deputised at left and right-back respectively.

Solskjaer went with a centre-back partnership of Phil Jones (£4.8m) and Axel Tuanzebe (£4.4m), which means Harry Maguire (£5.5m), Victor Lindelöf (£5.4m) should come back in for Gameweek 6, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m) restored at right-back.

“Consistency’s key in football anyway, consistency in team selection and form. But you’ve got players like Axel [Tuanzebe], Mason [Greenwood] and Fred knocking on the door to be in from the start.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Manchester United XI (4-2-3-1): Romero; Rojo (Young 78′), Jones, Tuanzebe, Dalot; Matić, Fred; Chong (Lingard 68′), Angel Gomes (Mata 68′), Greenwood; Rashford.

Wolves 0-1 Braga

Goals: None

Assists: None

Wolves got off to a frustrating start in the Europa League group stages as Braga left Molineux with a 1-0 win.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and largely controlled proceedings but could not convert that into goals.

That has been the recurring theme of their season so far as the chances they did create went begging.

Patrick Cutrone (£5.8m) was probably the most unfortunate not to get any attacking returns as he enjoyed two golden opportunities in the first half.

After some great hold-up play from Raúl Jiménez (£7.3m), the Mexican flung a ball across from the right-flank to Cutrone running through the middle.

The former AC Milan forward also held off the defence well, turned cleverly to bear down on goal but blasted the ball over the bar.

Shortly after, Cutrone was threaded an excellent pass from Matt Doherty (£6.0m), he turned inside the defender and fired an effort wide of the goal.

In the second half, Jiménez showed some signs that he and his colleagues may still not be at the top of their game.

A ball came into the box from left wing-back Jonny (£5.4m) which ran across Jiménez perfectly for a shot, but his swing at it missed completely.

It still fell to Leander Dendoncker (£4.5m), but he overstretched somewhat so did not make ideal contact and goalkeeper Matheus was able to make a save.

Later in the match, Jiménez aimed a tame back-post header from a Willy Boly (£5.0m) cross at Braga’s shot-stopper before Rúben Neves (£5.5m) saw a textbook shot from distance batted away.

Unfortunately for Wolves, Braga did not create too many chances but still finished the match with three points.

In the 71st minute, Ryan Bennett (£5.0m) gave the ball away to Galeno on the right flank, the winger finding Ricardo Horta in space and unmarked on the opposite flank to score.

“It was not a bad performance and we had our chances. They didn’t create much, but the chance that they did have it becomes harder. I think we did enough, we controlled and managed the game, we create and didn’t allow too many chances, we were well organised defensively, but they scored.” – Nuno Espirito Santo

It is possible that Wolves are continuing to suffer from having to chop and change their line-up between Premier League and European commitments after remaining largely unchanged for much of last season.

There were five alterations to the side that lost to Chelsea for the Thursday night encounter.

Doherty, Bennett, Boly, Cutrone and Morgan Gibbs-White (£4.9m) came into the team, with Adama Traoré (£5.0m), Jesus Vallejo (£4.8m), Romain Saïss (£4.4m), Diogo Jota (£6.2m) and Joao Moutinho (£5.5m) dropping out.

Midfielder Gibbs-White highlighted the troubles that Wolves have experienced with their busy schedule this season, furthering the idea that Fantasy managers might be best advised to avoid their assets as long as they are in Europa League action.

“It’s a massive test, playing Thursday and Sunday every week. We’re a small squad but everyone is raring to go. It’s taken its toll and we’re tired, but we’re still working hard and still ready to go for the next game on Sunday. We always believe – we go again Sunday and hopefully we can get the victory at Palace.” – Morgan Gibbs-White

With Wolves currently sat second-bottom in the Premier League, it is clear they need to improve their fortunes for a crucial trip to Crystal Palace in Gameweek 6.

“The reality is that we’re not performing well, we have to analyse and find solutions in the team to improve. We’ve played against good teams, and sometimes you don’t do everything you can in the games. We started the games well, and this must be what we have to do. We must come strong on Sunday and we must react. We have to make decisions and try for solutions for the best of the team because we must go out of this situation, improve our performance and bounce back immediately.” – Nuno Espirito Santo

Wolverhampton Wanderers XI (3-5-2): Patrício; Boly, Coady, Bennett; Jonny, Gibbs-White (Moutinho 67′), Neves, Dendoncker (D Jota 76′), Doherty (Traoré 80′); Cutrone, Jiménez.