Man City 2-2 Crystal Palace
Goals: Sergio Aguero x2 (£11.8m) | Cenk Tosun (£5.7m)
Own Goals: Fernandinho (£5.2m)
Assists: Gabriel Jesus (£9.5m), Benjamin Mendy (£5.5m) | Gary Cahill (£4.4m), Wilfried Zaha (£6.8m)
Bonus Points: Aguero x3, Mendy x2, Tosun x1
Crystal Palace’s defence frustrated a host of Fantasy Premier League assets on Saturday afternoon as they held on for a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Kevin de Bruyne (£10.7m) came into Gameweek 23 as the most-captained option among the top 10,000 managers but recorded his second blank in a row at home.
Meanwhile, Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) was named on the bench alongside Gabriel Jesus (£9.5m) for Raheem Sterling‘s (£11.8m) inevitable return to the team.
That led to a one-point 17-minute cameo for the Algerian after a run of starts and attacking returns in each of his last three Premier League outings.
His replacement Sterling did not fare much better, also blanking, this time for the third match in a row, spurning two chances to score.
In the first half, he rose highest at the back post to nod a Bernardo Silva (£7.8m) cross over the bar and in the second period, Sterling had the chance to curl one at Vicente Guaita‘s (£5.1m) goal, but he could only place it high and wide.
The heavily backed de Bruyne was arguably unfortunate not to get any attacking returns as he continued to provide his team-mates with chances, Bernardo Silva going closest, seeing his penalty box effort turned over the bar by Guaita. De Bruyne also struck the bar in the first half.
However, the fact that he has blanked in this match ahead of facing Sheffield United in Double Gameweek 24, when Mohamed Salah (£12.3m) and Sadio Mané (£12.4m) each have two fixtures, could lead to a large number of sales in the coming days.
By contrast, Sergio Aguero (£11.8m) has consolidated his position on the Fantasy radar with another two goals to add to his hat-trick against Aston Villa.
Despite Palace’s organised defending, the Argentinian did ask a few questions. In the first half, he was denied from close range at the near post before Guaita saved an effort of his in the second, stopping Bernardo Silva’s rebounded effort too.
What caused Manchester City’s attack to stutter so much was the way that Palace packed the middle of the pitch, stopping them from playing their usual intricate passing play.
That largely limited Pep Guardiola’s men to getting crosses into the box which, naturally, suited the Eagles even more with James Tomkins (£5.0m) and Gary Cahill (£4.4m) able to routinely head most of them clear.
However, such is his goal-scoring prowess, Aguero got the hang of it in the end. His first goal came from a well-placed Jesus cross, which he stretched to turn in at the far post, while Mendy’s ball into the box was headed home later on.
Arguably, Aguero could have had a chance to complete a second hat-trick inside seven days after Manchester City were denied a second-half penalty. Joao Cancelo‘s (£5.2m) crossed into the box where Jairo Riedewald (£4.5m), still filling in at left-back, deflected the ball off his leg and onto his arm. Referee Graham Scott originally awarded the spot-kick but the decision was overruled by VAR.
Either way, with five goals and one assist in two matches, interest in Aguero may rise in the next few days, even if a trip to Sheffield United in Liverpool’s Double Gameweek looks tough.
Once again, Manchester City’s defending let them down, active discouraging investment at that end of the pitch.
Cenk Tosun (£5.7m) managed to grab himself a debut goal for Crystal Palace following some alarmingly typical attempts to defend a set piece in the first half.
Cahill was able to rise high enough to direct the ball to an unmarked Tosun at the back post to put Palace in front.
And only minutes after Aguero had put City in the lead, Wilfried Zaha (£6.8m) went clean down Cancelo’s side of the pitch and forced a Fernandinho (£5.2m) own-goal after his ball across the goal.
Finally, Fantasy managers in possession of Martin Kelly (£4.4m) were handed something of a boost following this match.
He has become a mainstay of Crystal Palace’s defence since Joel Ward‘s (£4.3m) injury, but his colleague returned to fitness for Gameweek 23.
However, despite recovering from his injury, Ward was named on the bench, featuring only as an 88th-minute substitute for Riedewald and allowing Kelly to get another 90 minutes under his belt.
Manchester City XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Mendy, Fernandinho, Stones, Cancelo; D Silva (Jesus 62′), de Bruyne, Gundogan; Sterling (Rodri 89′), Aguero, B Silva (Mahrez 73′)
Crystal Palace XI (4-3-3): Guaita; Riedewald (Ward 88′), Cahill, Tomkins, Kelly; Zaha, Kouyaté, McCarthy, McArthur; Ayew, Tosun (Wickham 81′).
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Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa
by Marc Jobling
Goals: Leandro Trossard (£5.8m) | Jack Grealish (£6.5m)
Assists: Neal Maupay (£5.9m) | Douglas Luiz (£4.4m)
Bonus Points: Grealish x3, Trossard x3, Bernardo (£4.3m)
After scoring against Brighton in the Carabao Cup and getting 13 points during October’s league meeting at Villa Park, Jack Grealish (£6.5m) once again ran the show by grabbing a valuable goal and point for the visitors.
Grealish is Aston Villa’s talisman and performances like this will only enhance his chances of getting into the England squad in time for Euro 2020. In the first half, he performed a one-man counter-attack with a beautiful first touch, dribbling beyond the defence and only just missing the goal with his shot.
He eventually equalised after a pass from substitute Douglas Luiz (£4.4m). Exploiting a big gap between Brighton’s centre backs. Grealish had the confidence to let the ball run across him and shoot first time to beat Mathew Ryan (£4.9m) at his near post.
He has scored five goals and assisted three since his Gameweek 13 return, rubbishing thoughts that he would be hindered by the changes required after Wesley’s (£5.5m) season-ending injury.
“On the pitch he gave us that calmness. He didn’t have an awful lot to do. He had to pick the ball out of the net but we protected him very well. He was very calm in possession of the ball and when he was called upon with three minutes left he’s made a very good save.” – Dean Smith
However, if it wasn’t for a fantastic late save from debutant Pepe Reina (£4.5m), Villa would have gone home empty-handed. A Brighton free-kick found its way to a superb Neal Maupay (£5.9m) volley that was destined for the bottom corner until Reina got his hand to it.
It would have resulted in a good afternoon for Maupay’s owners, after the Frenchman provided the pass for Leandro Trossard’s (£5.8m) opening goal.
Similarly to the Grealish strike, Trossard’s first touch was a left-foot shot except for this time it went into the far corner past Reina. The former Genk man had slipped off the radar of FPL managers after returning from injury to inconsistent minutes, despite finding time to score twice and assist five.
However, he has played all but ten minutes of the past four matches and will be optimistic of returns against Bournemouth (away), West Ham (away) and Watford (home).
“It was an important game and it’s obviously disappointing not to win, but I thought we were really good in the first half and with a bit of luck could have probably been further ahead.” – Graham Potter
Brighton have conceded the fewest of all teams in the bottom half, adding appeal to the goal-scoring tendencies of Lewis Dunk (£4.8m) and Adam Webster (£4.4m). Although no defender has scored more often than Webster’s three, team-mate Dunk has two of his own and almost 20 times the ownership.
The England international was booked for pulling Anwar El Ghazi (£5.5m), who missed a big chance on the verge of half time. It was a brilliantly whipped in free-kick from Matt Targett (£4.4m) – back in the side after missing two matches – that picked out El Ghazi in space, yet the header didn’t threaten Ryan.
Defensively, Villa were much improved from last weekend’s 6-1 defeat to Man City because of the weaker opposition and the invaluable experience brought to the backline by 37-year-old Reina. Their experiment of playing El Ghazi up-front may be about to end if Dean Smith can complete the much-rumoured transfer of Mbwana Samatta, removing the goal scoring burden off Grealish.
Brighton XI (4-3-3): Ryan; Alzate, Dunk, Webster, Bernardo; Mooy (Gross 81’), Stephens, Propper; Trossard (Murray 81’), Maupay, Connolly (Montoya 68’).
Aston Villa XI (3-4-3): Reina; Konsa, Mings, Hause; Guilbert, Drinkwater (Douglas Luiz 68’), Nakamba (Hourihane 86’), Targett; Trezeguet (Vasillev 67’), Grealish, El Ghazi.
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