Scout Notes

Aubameyang out of luck as Nketiah underscores budget FPL forward appeal

Southampton 0-2 Arsenal

  • Goals: Eddie Nketiah (£4.4m), Joe Willock (£4.7m)
  • Assists: Alexandre Lacazette (£9.3m)
  • Bonus: Kieran Tierney (£5.3m) x3, Rob Holding (£4.4m) x2, Emiliano Martinez (£4.2m) x1

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) blanked again on Thursday as Arsenal bounced back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over mid-table Southampton.

Never before had the Gabon international gone four Premier League matches without scoring but he set an unwanted record at St Mary’s, despite his side tasting success on the road for the first time since December 2019.

Luck wasn’t on his side on the south coast.

First denied a ninth-minute goal thanks to a combination of an Alex McCarthy (£4.5m) feather-touch and the underside of the crossbar, Aubameyang then saw Eddie Nketiah (£4.4m) shank an effort wide on the stroke of half-time when a square ball would have left the premium FPL forward with a tap-in.

The roles were reversed after the interval, with Aubameyang’s attempted pass to the unmarked Nketiah deflecting off Jan Bednarek (£4.4m) and trickling agonisingly wide of McCarthy’s right-hand post.

The Gabonese striker’s jinxed evening culminated in the 85th minute when he was hacked down by Jack Stephens (£4.4m) as he raced through on McCarthy’s goal; the Southampton stopper seeing red and Arsenal, courtesy of substitute Joe Willock (£4.7m), doubling their lead from the resulting free-kick.

Unfortunate or not, there’ll be valid questions about his current worth as a premium asset – especially after a Gameweek in which many of the other heavy hitters returned points for their owners.

First, the good.

It should be said that Aubameyang still sits joint-second in the race for the Golden Boot, on 17 goals.

He is also relatively ‘nailed’ (he hasn’t been substituted or benched once under Mikel Arteta) and, contrary to popular belief, his role on the left flank doesn’t really affect his output much.

The Gunners arguably have the stand-out fixture of Gameweek 32+, as well, with bottom-of-the-table Norwich City the visitors to the Emirates next Wednesday.

That match against the Canaries could well be his swansong for the patient Fantasy managers who still own him, however.

After the clash with Daniel Farke’s Championship-bound troops comes four trickier-looking fixtures against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.

On top of that, for £6.6m less, Fantasy managers can pick up another Arsenal forward: Nketiah.

Granted, the budget Fantasy asset isn’t perhaps as secure a starter as Aubameyang.

We have already seen Nketiah drop to the bench once in Gameweek 30+, with Alexandre Lacazette (£9.3m) taking his place, and we can expect to see some job-sharing going on between those two players between now and the end of 2019/20.

But the youngster has now started five of Arsenal’s last six league matches up front and marked his latest run-out with the Gunners’ deadlock-breaking goal at Southampton, intercepting a suicidal pass out from McCarthy and rolling the ball into the empty net.

Hailing Nketiah after the match, Arteta said:

Eddie, since I joined, the maturity and the personality that he plays every game with is incredible.

I demand a lot of our forward players to put the opponent under pressure and they’ve done it. A lot of the goals we score are because of the errors that we force on the opponent. In that heat, to keep chasing players and putting them under pressure, sometimes it’s not a really nice thing to do.

But obviously, when you get a goal from the mistakes they’ve made – which could have caused a few more goals – it’s really important. It generates belief in what they do and it pays the price for the effort.

I am happy with Eddie, the way he’s played again today, but I’m happy in general with the team.

Another youngster and budget FPL asset, Bukayo Saka (£4.7m), also continues to impress under Arteta.

The teenager was here operating as a sort of left-sided-midfielder-turned-wing-back in his manager’s fluid 4-3-3/3-4-3 and his versatility has come in handy with the injuries piling up since the restart.

Indeed, Saka is one of just four Arsenal players who has started all three league games since the Premier League resumed in mid-June.

Above: Arsenal players sorted by starts in Gameweeks 30+ to 31+

Not offering much goal threat of his own, Saka nevertheless is capable of chipping in with an assist (he has four this calendar year alone) and was the only Arsenal asset to create more than one chance on Thursday.

His manager seems to trust him, too, with Arteta saying afterwards:

It’s in his hands. He has a manager that has total belief in him, he has a club that really supports him and he has team-mates who adore him for who he is.

He’s such a nice boy, he’s very intelligent and he’s so willing to learn. He’s eager to be the best, he tries to be the best every day, and you can put him in different positions and he picks it up really quickly.

Every decision he makes, he takes risks. I think he could have produced three goals today. The maturity he shows on the pitch is really good.

While Lacazette was benched again and Nicolas Pepe (£9.3m) offered little, Arsenal’s defence at least showed signs of improvement.

It was perhaps no surprise that they looked more solid with Granit Xhaka (£5.1m) back in the side, with the Swiss defensive midfielder – public enemy number one towards the end of the Unai Emery reign – becoming an influential figure in the Arteta era.

All five of Arsenal’s clean sheets under their current boss have arrived with Xhaka in the starting XI.

Budget goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (£4.2m) was solid enough filling in for the injured Bernd Leno (£4.9m), meanwhile, and the cut-price Rob Holding (£4.4m) was arguably the man of the match at the back, looking considerably more dependable than the suspended David Luiz (£5.7m).

Another member of Thursday’s backline, Kieran Tierney (£5.3m), limped off injured in the second half – but Arteta said the Scotland international was merely suffering from cramp when he was interviewed later:

Kieran was cramping. He hasn’t played two games together in the last seven or eight months and he was suffering. The weather is different to Scotland and he needs to adapt to it.

The Saints were brought back down with a bump after the Gameweek 30+ win over Norwich City and it has to be stressed how favourable the circumstances were in that victory last Friday, with Daniel Farke deploying an experimental 4-4-2 to disastrous effect.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were second-best before the interval against Arsenal but improved after half-time, with substitute Shane Long (£4.7m) testing Martinez and Nathan Redmond (£6.2m) firing into the side-netting from decent positions.

Given Michael Obafemi‘s (£4.9m) so-so performances in his compatriot’s absence, the fit-again Long will expect to regain his place for Sunday’s trip to Watford.

The Saints will be without the suspended Stephens for that encounter, however, with the lumbering Jannik Vestergaard (£4.5m) potentially taking his place.

There is further encouragement for owners of Watford’s attacking assets, with question-marks over Southampton’s problem right-back position and their goalkeeper.

McCarthy’s distribution has always been a concern and he had already had one near-miss when he gifted Nketiah the opener, with Arsenal out-Southamptoning Southampton with their aggressive press.

Speaking of McCarthy after the match, Hasenhuttl said:

We know we play more in possession now and making the goalkeeper more of a player means he has the ball more often.

There are still some things he has to improve – his decision making: should I play the ball short or should I play the ball long.

He has stuff to work on.

Danny Ings (£7.2m) couldn’t add to his haul against Norwich here, meanwhile, and has now racked up 177 minutes of pitch-time over the last week; it’ll be interesting to see if Hasenhuttl spares him at Vicarage Road this weekend given how carefully he has handled his star striker in previous periods of fixture congestion.


Southampton XI (4-2-2-2): McCarthy; Valery (Walker-Peters 46′), Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand; Højbjerg (Vestergaard 90′), Ward-Prowse; Armstrong, Redmond; Obafemi (Long 46′), Ings (Romeu 90′). 

Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Martinez; Bellerin, Holding, Mustafi, Tierney (Kolasinac 70′); Xhaka, Ceballos (Maitland-Niles 80′), Saka; Pepe (Willock 64′), Nketiah (Lacazette 79′), Aubameyang. 

Members Analysis

View full match data from Southampton v Arsenal

FPL Lessons Learned from Gameweek 31+

1,030 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Genovoze
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Play 1:
    A) Saka (NOR)
    B) Ayew (BUR), have Pope too
    C) use ft Ayew->Nketiah, play Nketiah (NOR)

    1. GreennRed
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      A.

    2. STONEROSES
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      A

  2. GreennRed
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Do we think Liverpool and City will play full strength teams, or close to, for remainder of the season?

    1. STONEROSES
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      I think they’ll start rotating after the next match

      1. MYNAMEISBigtopmark.sman
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Liverpool will play string teams with minor rotation.

        Minamino will rotate the front three.

        Elliot and neco will get a game here and there.

        But klopp wants to win all the games. Full strength against city for sure

        1. Party time
            3 years, 9 months ago

            As long as Raheem Sterling gives Joe Gomez a standing guard of honor. I am fine with the line up

            1. GreennRed
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 9 months ago

              I think they're mates again!

        2. GreennRed
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Will some clubs fighting relegation and for Euro qualifications have an advantage in that case? Hopefully not but remember Huddersfield having questions to answer questions when they fielded a weakened team v Birmingham and Birmingham stayed in the Championship. Sure relegation of a club isn't important, tasty FPL picks being unavailable will be scandalous 😉

      2. Pinturicchio10
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Theres no real reason for liverpool to rotate. If certain players need minutes theres a bunch of subs to be made. City always rotate so as you were there I reckon.

      3. STONEROSES
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Here’s my WC team - any issues? Thanks

        Pope Martinez
        TAA Saiss Aurier Lascelles Holgate
        Salah Mahrez Martial Pulisic Son
        Jiménez Rashford Nketiah

        1. Fulchester's New Centr…
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Lovely

        2. Red Rock
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          I wish I had your team value, looks very good in midfield. I have to go Saka instead of Pulisic.

        3. Old Gregg
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Your Front 8 is what I’m aiming for.

      4. Red Rock
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Arsenal fans, who is more likely to start out of Saka and Nketiah?

        1. Fulchester's New Centr…
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Not an Arseanl fan, but could well be both. They might get their rest this weekend.

          1. Red Rock
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 9 months ago

            Its a coin flip for sure, debating which one to start if I get both on a WC

        2. Traction Engine Foot
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          I'd say Saka, just because he's more versatile. I expect Nketiah to get decent minutes too though.

          1. Red Rock
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 9 months ago

            Absolutely, Saka can play two positions. I'm gutted Nketiah started yesterday and got the goal, could be a super sub because of his minutes

        3. Klaren
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Saka. I was going to get Nketiah and play him on my WC but I feel like there is a big risk of him starting the Cup game and so getting rested vs Norwich.

          I'd expect them to prioritize Cup games and Nketiah seems to be favored over Lacazette.

      5. Traction Engine Foot
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Choose one to play please:

        A Ward (BUR)
        B Kiko (SOU)
        C Fernandez (bou)

      6. Red Rock
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        I'm a bit reluctant to downgrade Doherty to Saiss just because he's been so good and attacking, however:

        A) KDB + Saiss
        B) Mahrez + Doherty

        Can't squeeze funds elsewhere unless I ditch Trent on my WC.

        1. Rover
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Definitely do not downgrade this GW. Saiss is still at risk of a suspension if he picks up a yellow card. I would be rather happy with B

      7. YoungPretender
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Start 1;

        A) Nketiah (NOR)
        B) ASM (bou)

        1. Old Gregg
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          A) especially if Lacezette starts Fa cup game

      8. Rover
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Definitely do not downgrade this GW. Saiss is still at risk of a suspension if he picks up a yellow card. I would be rather happy with B.

        1. Rover
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Reply fail

      9. juicewagz
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Richarlison to Pulisic FT?

      10. Klaren
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        WC Draft:
        Martinez
        TAA Doherty Lascelles
        Salah KDB Martial Son Pulisic
        Rashford Jimenez
        (Martin, Holgate, Connolly, Williams)

        Should I downgrade Doherty and spend more on keeper/3rd defender slot (probably Pope and Maguire). Any thoughts?

        Thanks!

      11. Fernandito
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        De Gea
        TAA Doherty Aurier
        Bruno KDB Salah Pulisic
        Rashford Jimenez Nketiah

        Button Traore Lascelles Robinson

        Thoughts on this WC team?

      12. Old Gregg
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Morning Y’all,

        Martinez
        Taa-Doherty-Fernandez-(Kiko)-(3.9)
        Mane-Martial-Bruno-Son-(Saka)
        Dcl-Jimi-Vardy.

        1FT.
        Probably looking at shifting to 3-5-2. With Rash/Jimi and shoe horn Pulisic and Possibly mahrez in midfield.

        a) Save FT
        b) Dcl > Nekatiah
        C) vardy > rash

        Also, play Saka this week?

        Thanks

        1. The Reptile
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          I'm going DCL to Nketiah for a week punt - I find it hard to see DCL doing very well against Leics after seeing his performance v Norwich - the only danger is if Nketiah doesn't start.

        2. KunDogan
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          C. Saka 1st bench

      13. juicewagz
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Richarlison to Pulisic FT??

        1. Flaming Flamingo
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          I would keep Richarlison

        2. The 12th Man
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Nah

      14. DandyDon
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        If you had VVD this week would you bench for KIko or Lascelles?
        Think Pool may well keep a clean sheet as City will be tired after their cup game etc. However at the same time seems odd to bet against City scoring a goal.

        1. Flaming Flamingo
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          I'd play Kiko I think

        2. james 101
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Similar to my question below mate.

          I’m leaning to taa

      15. CelticBhoy1
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Jimenez and Fernandes

        Or

        Rashford and Martial

        1. james 101
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Damn. Tough one.

          Possibly B but a total coin toss

        2. james 101
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          I have them all

        3. Klaren
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Jimenez Martial?

      16. james 101
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Start which 3 this week

        A. Doherty (AVL A)
        B. TAA (MCI A)
        C. Ritchie (BOU A)
        D. Taylor (CRY A)
        E. J Robinson (TOT H)

        Cheers!

        1. james 101
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Leaning towards abc due to attacking potential (fun) but should I be considering D?

        2. Flaming Flamingo
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          ABC. I don't think it's close.

          1. james 101
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 9 months ago

            Cheers

        3. CelticBhoy1
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          ABC

          1. james 101
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 9 months ago

            Thanks CB

        4. DandyDon
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Yea definitely start TAA if you have him. Ritchie if fit and Doherty for me. Think Palace will win that one

          1. james 101
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 9 months ago

            Thanks mate

      17. Farns Foxes
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Hi All
        Wild carding Please help

        Pope Ryan
        Wan basaka VVD. TAA. Auriier
        Salah KDB Martial. Traore Saka
        Kieta Rashford Jiménez

        Jiménez C

        Or could Martial and Saka to Bruno and Guendouzi

        Help
        Cheers