Sterling hat-trick bittersweet ahead of Gameweek 10

There were important wins for both Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

As per usual, the players used by their respective managers handed us some clues to preparing for Gameweek 10.

We’ve covered all those Fantasy Premier League talking points in this latest Scout Notes article.

Manchester City 5-1 Atalanta

Goals: Sergio Aguero x2 (£12.2m), Raheem Sterling x3 (£12.1m)

Assists: Sterling x2, Phil Foden (£5.2m), Ilkay Gündogan (£5.2m), Riyad Mahrez (£8.6m)

Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) was completely unplayable on Tuesday night as Manchester City thrashed Atalanta 5-1.

The midfielder scored a hat-trick, his second of the 2019/20 season, which may prove bittersweet for his 38% ownership.

Sterling has scored just once in the last six Premier League Gameweeks but has a total of nine goals in his last eight outings in all other competitions for club and country.

Therefore, Fantasy managers might find it difficult to discern exactly what his Champions League man of the match display means for Gameweek 10.

While it reminds us of the extent to which Sterling has world-class talent, Tuesday night’s match showed him drifting into the positions he has largely avoided in the Premier League of late.

It has been no secret that Pep Guardiola has asked Sterling to provide width in recent league matches, which has often led to him hugging the chalk for much of his outings – never good for Fantasy managers.

However, against Atalanta, while he was deployed on the left of a 4-2-3-1 on paper, Sterling was making exciting runs into the box from his wide-berth, which is why he was able to score a hat-trick.

It is possible that this was helped by the presence of Benjamin Mendy (£5.9m) who arguably provides width better than Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.4m) does.

Two of Sterling’s goals were scored as a result of central positioning in and around the six-yard box, largely free of any markers having ghosted in from the left flank. His opening goal, also featured this run into the middle from wide areas, cutting onto his right foot and blasting the ball high into the net.

Sterling also won a first-half penalty for his movement in the box and provided the assist for the opener with a sweeping cross from the left.

So Fantasy managers will be hoping that he can finally bring some of that exciting movement back to the Premier League against Aston Villa on Saturday lunch-time, especially as it sounds as if Dean Smith’s men are planning to attack their illustrious hosts.

The presence of Mendy this weekend could prove a big factor in Sterling’s appeal. Thankfully, he was replaced by Joao Cancelo (£5.3m) in the 71st minute once the result had been wrapped up, allowing the left-back to get some rest.

However, there will be an element of concern over Sterling’s strength of start for Gameweek 10 as he played 90 minutes both at Crystal Palace on Saturday and against Atalanta on Tuesday evening.

Guardiola has generally favoured a start two in a row, bench for the third policy this season, although it is clear at this point that his so-called ‘Roulette’ is not an exact science.

However, there does appear to be some hope that Sterling could still be in line to start against Aston Villa, after Guardiola’s post-match comments.

After the win against Atalanta was secured, the Manchester City manager praised Sterling’s powers of recovery, which could stand him in good stead for Gameweek 10. That said, taking Guardiola at his word has not always worked out for the best this season.

“All the credit is for him. He’s a guy whose physicality is incredible. He is strong. The day after a game, he could play another game. His regeneration is incredible; he can play both sides. He is an extraordinary player.” – Pep Guardiola

While Sterling was comfortably the best player on the pitch, Sergio Aguero (£12.2m) probably came out of the match with stronger credentials for Gameweek 10.

Having missed the Gameweek 9 win at Crystal Palace, and a regular starter for home matches, the Argentinian looks more likely to be involved against Villa than Sterling at this point.

Aguero himself scored twice in this match without really having to step out of first gear.

His opening goal was a result of a simple poacher’s run to poke Sterling’s cross home from short-range, while the second was from the penalty spot.

Arguably, Aguero probably should have completed a hat-trick too, unleashing a powerful effort from the edge of the box in the first half and forcing a flying save from goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini.

What is perhaps the most encouraging about the centre-forward’s chances of succeeding in Gameweek 10, was an improved level of accuracy against Atalanta.

In recent Premier League matches, Aguero has struggled to land many shots on target, shooting in the box more often than Tammy Abraham (£7.8m) between Gameweeks 5 and 8, but registering a staggering seven fewer accurate efforts.

Against Atalanta, he registered five shots, four of which were on target, more than any other player on Tuesday night. If that is the shoots of recovery for Aguero’s accuracy, then he could be looking at a strong performance on Saturday lunch-time.

By contrast, Kevin de Bruyne (£10.1m) was not quite at his scintillating best on Tuesday night, although he hardly put on a poor performance.

Officially, the Belgian lined up alongside Ilkay Gündogan (£5.2m) in a deeper-role of the 4-2-3-1 system, but he still had plenty of joy down the right flank.

It was de Bruyne’s run down that side of the pitch that led to Sterling’s first goal. He squared it to Phil Foden (£5.2m) who in turn moved it on to the England international to lash it home.

De Bruyne also had a hand in the first-half penalty, sending Sterling through to win the penalty.

As for his chances of starting against Aston Villa, they now seem relatively high. Not only will Guardiola want his most creative player available in his chasing down of Liverpool, but de Bruyne was also substituted after 67 minutes against Atalanta, with the score at 4-1.

There will arguably be fewer options in central midfield for Guardiola in Gameweek 10 anyway. Rodrigo (£5.5m), who has recently been deputising at centre-back was taken off after 41 minutes with a hamstring problem.

While Guardiola does not know exactly how long the player will be out for, it sounds as if he will be out for at least 10 days.

“Not yet (I’ve don’t have an update). Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will know. Hopefully, it will be between ten days if it’s not broken. If it’s broken, will be three weeks, one month. It looks like [his hamstring].” – Pep Guardiola

John Stones (£5.3m) came in to replace Rodrigo and may fancy his chances of starting Gameweek 10 after recent criticism of Nicolas Otamendi (£5.6m).

The Argentinian international did come on in the second-half, replacing de Bruyne, but at that stage Guardiola was probably less concerned, given the 4-1 scoreline at that point.

However, it must be said that, defensively, Fernandinho (£5.2m), the recent first-choice centre-back in Aymeric Laporte‘s (£6.3m) absence, did not have his best game.

Atalanta went on some adventurous counter-attacks in the first half and, caught out of position with Mendy left upfield, Fernandinho brought down Josip Iličić and gave away a penalty, dispatched by Ruslan Malinovskiy.

Finally, a word on some differential options, including Riyad Mahrez (£8.6m). He may have played 90 minutes of this one but his chances of starting against Aston Villa seem positive given he missed the trip to Selhurst Park.

Mahrez also provided an assist for Sterling’s third goal but did overlook some obvious passing opportunities on Tuesday night.

Finally, Phil Foden (£5.2m) will now serve a Champions League suspension after collecting two late yellow cards. Whether his absence on the continent short-term will lead to greater involvement in the Premier League remains to be seen.

Manchester City XI (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Mendy (Cancelo 71′), Fernandinho, Rodrigo (Stones 41′), Walker; Gündogan, de Bruyne (Otamendi 67′); Sterling, Foden, Mahrez; Aguero.

Spurs 5-0 Red Star Belgrade

Goals: Harry Kane x2 (£10.9m), Son Heung-min x2 (£9.7m), Erik Lamela (£6.0m)

Assists: Lamela x2, Tanguy Ndombèlé x2 (£6.0m), Serge Aurier (£4.9m)

Son Heung-min (£9.7m) and Erik Lamela (£6.0m) both demonstrated their credentials to be regular first-team starters for Spurs as they were arguably the best attacking players on the pitch in a 5-0 win over Red Star Belgrade.

The two players were both named among the substitutes for Spurs as they laboured to a 1-1 draw with Watford in Gameweek 9 – a match in which they lacked much energy going forward.

After a string of disappointing results, Mauricio Pochettino desperately needed to showcase something positive in a home match, especially with a Gameweek 10 trip to Liverpool on the horizon.

Admittedly, Red Star were poor, giving the ball away too easily and marking their hosts poorly, but Spurs were still absolutely emphatic in victory. That is good news for them after we documented the continued decline of their Fantasy stock in Gameweek 9.

“Yes of course, it was so important, an important result for our confidence and to add three points in the table for us was very, very important tonight. Of course very pleased. After the second half against Watford, I was happy, not great as I told you, now the same, not great but good. I feel good. We start to see that it’s only time that we need to recover our best feelings.” – Mauricio Pochettino

Son came back into the starting line-up to play on the left flank of a 4-2-3-1 system and ran Red Star ragged.

The South Korean international bagged two first-half goals to remind Fantasy managers what he is capable of.

He appeared at the back post to score his first of the night before completing a gut-busting run on a counter-attack to slot inside the front-post for the second.

It looks as if Son will be featuring at Anfield in Gameweek 10 as he was replaced by Eric Dier (£4.9m) in the 68th minute as Pochettino looked to sure things up and claim a much-needed clean sheet.

Also returning to the side to great effect was Lamela, who was involved in just about everything Spurs did going forward.

With Christian Eriksen (£8.7m) fit enough only for the bench following a recent absence, the Argentinian took the set pieces and earned an assist inside the first 10 minutes when Harry Kane (£10.9m) glanced a header beyond visiting goalkeeper Milan Borjan.

It was then Lamela who provided the cross-field ball for Son’s opening strike before he had a string of chances to score.

First, Ben Davies (£5.4m) found him in the middle of the box, Lamela not quite getting the purchase on it to beat Borjan.

In the second half, he was freed up on the right and had a chance to shoot but dragged his effort just wide, perhaps unsure whether or not to square for Kane on the other side.

Finally, Lamela scored in the 56th minute when Serge Aurier (£4.9m) found him in acres of space around the middle of the penalty box.

That was a deserved goal for an impressive performance, which should put Lamela back into the thinking for starting regularly for Spurs.

Also missing from the starting line-up against Watford was Tanguy Ndombèlé (£6.0m) who was another exceptional performer on Tuesday night.

The central midfielder demonstrated once again his ability both to martial the midfield and provide attacking threat too.

Twice Ndombèlé won the ball back in dangerous positions, the first time unleashing a powerful effort which forced a save from the goalkeeper, the second time, setting up Son for his second of the evening.

Ndombèlé then got another assist in the second period, setting up Kane for his routine finish inside the penalty box.

Two goals for Kane will be of encouragement both to Spurs and his remaining Fantasy owners, although it must be said there was poor defending for both of them.

The first was as a result of poor marking for a corner, while he was able to roll the ball past two defenders and the goalkeeper to score the second.

This was also a match that saw Kane continue to drop deep and create on occasion, nearly getting an assist for Lamela at one point.

Tottenham Hotspur XI (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; B Davies, Vertonghen (Foyth 73′), D Sánchez, Aurier; Ndombèlé, Sissoko; Son (Dier 68′), Alli (Lo Celso 79′), Lamela; Kane.