Scout Notes

De Bruyne on target again as Pulisic’s FPL stock continues to rise in Chelsea win

Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City

  • Goals: Christian Pulisic (£6.9m), Willian (£7.0m) | Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m)
  • Assists: Tammy Abraham (£7.5m) | Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m)
  • Bonus: Willian x3, De Bruyne x2, Mahrez x1

A hugely entertaining match at Stamford Bridge ended in a win for Chelsea, a league title for Liverpool and the strong likelihood of Pep Roulette creating new levels of exasperation for Fantasy managers.

Since football has returned, many a fixture has been a drab, sterile affair.

Last night’s game was not one of them.

Chelsea allowed Manchester City 65% of the possession, but used their time on the ball to greater effect, firing in seven shots on target to the visitors’ two.

But thanks to a combination of sloppy finishing and some goal-line heroics from Kyle Walker (£5.6m), it took a VAR-awarded penalty to win the home side the points.

Following the knee injury suffered by Sergio Aguero (£11.7m), there was much pre-match speculation as to who would fill the great man’s shoes in City’ attack.

The obvious candidate was Gabriel Jesus (£9.6m), but as City coach Pep Guardiola doesn’t do obvious, he sent out three attacking midfielders – Bernardo Silva (£7.7m), Raheem Sterling (£11.7m) and Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) – to do the job between them.

While the City selection picture is as clouded as ever, what did become crystal-clear was that Benjamin Mendy (£5.5m) seems to have forgotten how to defend.

The left-back was horribly at fault for the opening goal after 36 minutes, getting into a mix-up with Ilkay Gundogan (£5.2m) that allowed Christian Pulisic (£6.9m) to burst through on goal, beat Mendy for a second time and curl the ball past Ederson (£6.0m).

It was tough on City, who had controlled the match up until then, with makeshift centre-half Fernandinho‘s (£5.1m) header forcing a fine save from Kepa (£5.4m) in the Chelsea goal.

But it was further proof that the extended lay-off has helped Pulisic, who looked sharp, hungry and, after his second straight Gameweek with a goal, full of confidence.

Chelsea still have a Champions League place to tie down and a decent run of fixtures, until Gameweek 37+ at least, to do it. The American, currently owned by just 4.6% (but rising quickly), looks a decent differential option.

Another who could end the season strongly is Tammy Abraham (£7.5m), who again started on the bench last night but came on to great effect in the second-half, with his and Pulisic’s pace proving too much for City’s centre-backs.

By the time the England striker was brought on, City were level.

Mahrez drew a foul 25 yards out from the Chelsea goal and the imperious Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m) did the rest, stroking home a superb free-kick.

The Belgian now has two goals and an assist from his last two starts and, even in a midfield of such abundant talent, is the player that makes the team tick. That doesn’t mean he’s immune from Guardiola’s rotational lust – the coach would probably drop himself if he could – but De Bruyne and Mahrez are very much the City men in form at the moment.

Neither could do anything about Chelsea’s response to being pegged back, however.

Sterling had a great chance to make it 2-1 immediately after De Bruyne’s equaliser, only to hit the post when clean through.

But once Abraham had come on for the willing, if one-paced, Olivier Giroud (£6.6m), the hosts’ attacking threat was transformed.

Mason Mount (£6.2m) wasted a great chance when Ederson essentially passed him the ball, the young midfielder hitting the side netting with the goal at his mercy, before Pulisic rounded the Brazilian keeper only to see his goal-bound effort cleared off the line by a sliding Walker.

The chances kept coming for Chelsea, however, and when Fernandinho effected another goal-line clearance, this time to block an Abraham effort, VAR quickly revealed that he had used his hand to do so.

Off went the midfielder-turned-defender, up strode Willian (£7.0m) and his converted penalty won Chelsea the match and Liverpool their long-awaited (and, no doubt, long-to-be-celebrated) Premier League title.

The Fantasy fallout of that title win, on the City side in particular, could make or break a number of managers’ seasons.

Speaking post-match, Guardiola praised Liverpool before turning to the immediate future:

We have five or six weeks to play. The FA Cup on Sunday is important and we need to achieve qualification for UCL and after that we need to prepare for Madrid.

Yes, City have yet to mathematically qualify for next season’s Champions League, although a looming ban might make that a moot point anyway. But Guardiola is fooling no-one if he thinks we believe he’ll prioritise the league over the FA Cup and August’s Champions League resumption.

That said, keeping his players fit and sharp won’t involve giving them a couple of cup games while they otherwise lounge around waiting for the Champions League to start again.

But finding consistent, reliable starters over the next few Gameweeks is going to be tricky, which is business as usual with Pep, to be fair.

Fantasy managers might have to risk a no-show here and there to benefit from the potentially big hauls that in-form players such as De Bruyne and Mahrez can still deliver – especially as City still have to face five of the bottom seven before the season finally ends.

Chelsea are a different proposition entirely.

Their Champions League qualification is likely, but most definitely not yet assured, and coach Frank Lampard has shown a consistent willingness to give his young players extended opportunities.

Now that he’s fit again, that should mean Abraham and Pulisic will have plenty of opportunities over the next few Gameweeks.

Lampard was keen to praise Pulisic after the match:

I wanted to protect him a bit against Villa and see if he could make an impact. He did that. I always planned to start him against City because I know what he can bring in these sorts of games. He brought it and did really well.

He’s a young player, he’s got so much talent, and he needs to keep working. He can get better and better.

And the coach made it clear how important the final few league matches will be:

We are in a battle here and it’s not going to be decided tonight. It’s a nice result which gives us confidence. Now the consistency we produce until the end of the season is what is going to define us this year, and get us the finish we want.

Chelsea do still have the FA Cup to consider, and nominally the Champions League, where they’re 3-0 down to Bayern Munich.

But the Premier League will surely be their main focus, meaning key players will need to be in our sights from here on in.

Chelsea XI (4-3-2-1): Kepa; Rudiger, Alonso, Christensen, Azpilicueta; Kante, Mount (Pedro 90′), Barkley (Kovacic 73′); Willian, Pulisic (Gilmour 90′); Giroud (Abraham 62′).

Manchester City XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Mendy (Zinchenko 59′), Laporte (Otamendi 74′), Fernandinho;  Gundogan, Rodri (Silva 55′), De Bruyne; Sterling, Bernardo (Jesus 55′), Mahrez.

MEMBERS ANALYSIS

View full match data from Chelsea v Manchester City here

Burnley 1-0 Watford

  • Goals: Jay Rodriguez (£5.7m)
  • Assists: Dwight McNeil (£6.1m)
  • Bonus: Nick Pope (£5.0m) x3, Ben Mee (£5.0m) x2, Matthew Lowton (£4.2m) x1

A Jay Rodriguez (£5.7m) goal was enough for Burney to see off Watford and keep Nigel Pearson’s side deep in the relegation mire.

The striker’s winner, from an excellent Dwight McNeil (£6.1m) cross, was harsh on the visitors, who put on a much-improved second-half display that was probably worthy of at least a point.

From a Fantasy perspective, the main news was a clean sheet and maximum bonus points for Burnley keeper Nick Pope (£5.0m), which meant a 10-point tally for up to 19.2% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.

It was Pope’s second double-digit haul in four Gameweeks and with Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and West Ham to come over the next three fixtures, few managers will be benching him any time soon.

Rodriguez, alongside strike partner Matej Vydra (£5.3m), led the line well and could have had more goals but for a fine save from Ben Foster (£4.9m) and a goal-line clearance by Craig Dawson (£4.8m).

The Watford centre-back was equally busy at the other end, producing a team-leading three attempts (all headers, all from set-pieces), while skipper Troy Deeney (£6.2m) was unlucky to see a header cleared off the line by McNeil.

But neither side’s attacking threat is likely to attract much investment. Burnley’s 35-goal total for the season is better than only seven other sides, while Watford’s (28) is the third-worst in the division.


It’s an entirely different matter at the other end of the pitch, however.

Only Liverpool (14) have more clean sheets than Burnley’s 12 this season, while Watford’s nine shut-outs is the joint-fifth-best record in the league.

The Hornets are perilously close to the drop zone at present, and still have Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal to play.

Their other four fixtures, involving Southampton, Norwich, Newcastle and West Ham, will likely decide their fate, and those matches could also produce decent defensive returns.

Goalkeeper Foster, with 3.8% ownership, is their most popular player and that is not likely to change.

As for Burnley, their ‘keeper is also their most-owned FPL asset and even a generally good schedule will probably not tempt much investment anywhere else in the side, although both Rodriguez and McNeil have produced decent enough returns over the last five Gameweeks.

The striker went off early with a hamstring issue against Watford, but Burnley boss Sean Dyche played down the extent of the problem post-match:

We don’t think it is too serious, we think we have got him off in time. It was a loss to us, but we are suffering a bit with numbers at the minute so we have got to protect the players as best we can when we can.

Dyche’s Watford counterpart Pearson wasn’t keen to dwell on the match.

They are good at what they do and saw the game out. We have to move on. There is no point spending too much time talking about the negatives.

It seems unlikely, at present, that many Fantasy managers will spend much time talking about the positives at Watford either.

Burnley XI (4-4-2): Pope; Lowton, Taylor, Tarkowski, Mee; Cork, Brownhill, McNeil, Westwood; Rodriguez (Pieters 81′), Vydra.

Watford XI (4-3-3): Foster; Kiko, Dawson, Kabasele (Cathcart 45′), Masina; Cleverley (Doucoure 45′), Hughes (Chalobah 83′), Capoue; Sarr, Deeney (Gray 85′), Welbeck.

MEMBERS ANALYSIS

View full match data from Burnley v Watford here


FPL Lessons Learned from Gameweek 31+

547 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Soto Ayam
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Drop one to the bench

    1) son (shf)
    2) fernandes (bri)
    3) martial (bri)
    4) mount (wham)
    5) richarlison (LEI)
    6) rashford (bri)
    7) Jimenez (villa)
    8) Inga (wat)

    Between 5) richarli and 8) Ings for me.

    How about you?

    Many thanks

    1. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      4 or 5

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

      4

    3. The Strokes
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      5

    4. Soto Ayam
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Cheers all

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

    Nyland (Leno)
    Doherty AWB PvA (Egan Lascelles)
    KdB Son Alli Bruno Martial
    Vardy Jimenez (McBurnie)

    I have the above squad right now and plan to WC to the squad below after the cup games. Who would you punt on for one GW in the interim? A Nyland upgrade or a Vardy replacement?

    Lloris Gazzaniga
    VVD Doherty AWB Kiko Lascelles
    KdB Mahrez Martial Pulisic Doucoure
    Kane Rashford Jimenez

    1. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      how much itb?

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

        0.3m

        1. Tonyawesome69
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Vardy to Rashford or Nyland to Martinez

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

            Thanks

  3. Tonyawesome69
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Who would you bench- Thanks
    1. Traore
    2. Ings
    3. DCL

    0itb 1ft - WC and BB left
    Pope
    TAA Lascelles Saiss
    Salah Mane KDB Fernandes
    DCL Ings Jimi
    (Ryan Traore Stephens Williams)

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

      Ings

      1. Tonyawesome69
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Why Ings?

    2. The Strokes
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      DCL

      1. Tonyawesome69
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Why DCL?

  4. Beehindyou
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Had planned on WC in 33+, but with the Kun and Leno injuries this mob is looking less and less attractive...

    A. Kun to Rash and WC next week?
    B. WC to the template (ish) this week?

    Hendo
    Lascelles / PvA / Mings
    KdB / Mahrez / Mount / Saka
    Auba(c) / Jimmy

    Leno* / Kun* / Lund / Egan

    1. Beehindyou
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      + Grealish in the mid

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

      Why not Aguero to Auba and then WC next week?

    3. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Might be ok with A for GW32

    4. fish&chips
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      My team is very similar to yours and I've gone for A. Hoping I can get away with it and decisions for WC will be easier next week

  5. Ziyech on the Bench
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Vardy to Rashford FT no brainer?

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

      Wouldn't say no brainer, but I'd be very tempted.

    2. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      yes

    3. The Strokes
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      yes

  6. Laurel and Vardy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Pick one (-4):

    A) Grealish -> Martial
    B) Jota - Rashford
    C) No hit and play them both.

    Thanks.

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

      B

    2. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      A

    3. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      A

    4. The Strokes
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      a

    5. Laurel and Vardy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Thanks all. 3:1 for Martial and we have a winner 🙂

    6. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      I did A mate if it helps

  7. Nightcrawler
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Have to start nkietiah over raka right?

    Laca to start in the cup surely?

    1. The Strokes
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Could be
      I hope for a Saka and Auba rest.
      Meaning Ozil and Laca playing in cup

  8. FPL Maldini
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    My ML rival is 32 points behind me and I want to do everything in my power to stay ahead of him, he owns Grealish, should I.....

    a) Hold and play Grealish and be 32 points ahead.

    b) Grealish --> Son (-4) being 28 points ahead but set up better for rest of the season.

    Thanks guys

    1. Nightcrawler
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      B obviously. Grealish cant do much damage

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

      B

    3. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      B

      1. FPL Maldini
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Thanks guys, pretty conclusive haha

    4. The Strokes
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      B

  9. The Strokes
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Pope
    Alonso – Doherty – Aurier - TAA
    Salah – KDB – Fernandes – Saka
    Auba – Jimmy
    (Button – Barnes - Holgate – DCL)

    Drop 3 to the bench
    1. Saka (Nor)
    2. Holgate (Eve)
    3. Barnes (Eve)
    4. TAA (MC)
    5. DCL (Lei)
    6. KDB (Liv)

    1. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      123 or 235

      1. The Strokes
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        I'm thinking of 652
        Is this crazy?
        I'm just not sure KDB will play Pool, Pep said cup was more important

  10. The Strokes
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Everton - Leic will be pretty even isn't?
    Do you that match will be more low or high scoring.
    Both teams seem finding it difficult to score since restart.

  11. dee_top
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Guys is a transfer Vardy to Auba (c) is a nobrainer in my squad:
    Pope
    Maguire TAA Doherty
    Bruno Son KDB Martial
    Calvert Jimenez Vardy
    Subs: Martin-Saka-Lasceles-HolgatE

    2m INB, 1FT

  12. Supernova
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    What are people's thoughts on Pulisic?

    I'm torn between Martial and Pulisic, but already have Rashford and Bruno and no Chelsea.

    1. Soto Ayam
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Martial. Thinking puli may be a trap, again.

  13. FPL Maldini
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Which captain is best from these three? FA Cup puts me off Auba and Rashford but do think their fixtures are better than Son's....

    a) Rashford

    b) Auba

    c) Son

    1. Soto Ayam
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      A

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

    Do we think Mccarthy will be dropped?

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

      That's what scaring me to as an owner, would drop him for -4 to Martinez and play BB.

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

        too*

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

    I just looked at the top xG underachievers table and Aubameyang isn't even on the list, so has less than 0.40 xG vs Southampton.

    I don't understand how that is possible given the big chance he had. Things like this lead me to have zero confidence in xG stats, would much rather look at shots in the box, etc.

  16. Kloptimus Prime
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Current team

    Pope
    TAA, Saiss, Fernandez, Lundstram
    Traore, Salah, De Bruyne
    Rashford (c), Jimenez, DCL

    Bench: Henderson, Grealish, Egan, Cantwell

    Should i do Grealish to Martial for a -4 hit and then who would you bench?