Scout Notes

Fernandes and Rashford deliver but Man United still far from their FPL best

BRIGHTON 2-3 MAN UNITED

  • Goals: Neal Maupay (£6.5m), Solly March (£5.0m) | Lewis Dunk (£5.0m) own goal, Marcus Rashford (£9.5m), Bruno Fernandes (£10.5m)
  • Assists: Tariq Lamptey (£4.6m), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£5.5m) | Nemanja Matic (£5.0m), Fernandes, Harry Maguire (£5.5m)
  • Bonus points: Fernandes x3, Maupay x2, March x1

Important Fantasy Premier League hauls for Bruno Fernandes (£10.5m) and Marcus Rashford (£9.5m) papered over the cracks of yet another poor performance for Manchester United in Gameweek 3.

The Red Devils were comfortably second best at Brighton on Saturday lunch-time and somehow managed to leave the Amex Stadium with all three points.

They won the pulsating encounter thanks to one of the most dramatic climaxes to a Premier League match in recent history. Fernandes scored a penalty awarded beyond the referee’s full-time whistle, after Solly March (£5.0m) thought he had rescued a deserved point for Brighton.

It was the hosts, who hit the woodwork five times in Gameweek 3, who arguably emerged from this with more Fantasy appeal for the coming weeks as Neal Maupay (£6.5m) added his fourth attacking return of the campaign, March had a wealth of chances prior to his late goal and Leandro Trossard (£6.0m) hit the bar after delivering in each of his two previous outings.

It is, admittedly, a trip to in-form Everton up next, although Carlo Ancelotti’s men have only kept one clean sheet so far and conceded three goals across their first three matches – so there is every reason to believe the Seagulls can cause trouble at Goodison Park.

Meanwhile, Fernandes – who concerned his owners with another poor game – thundered home the penalty and suddenly found himself with a goal, assist and involvement in two more. Despite the relative mediocre display, he ended proceedings with 12 points.

“I’m very happy for Marcus to get that goal. He was just a couple of inches offside on a counter-attack we had, with a great cross from Mason [Greenwood]. We did see some moments that we didn’t see last week. We’re getting a little bit better but I think we need to admit sometimes you get away with one, and today we probably didn’t deserve more than one point.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The 90 minutes were swamped with goals, disallowed strikes, shaken goalposts, overturned penalties and a ‘Panenka’ spot kick. Booked in the first half, the Portuguese playmaker then fouled Tariq Lamptey (£4.6m) and it was Maupay who cheekily dinked the penalty down the middle to put Brighton 1-0 up.

Soon after, in the 43rd minute, Fernandes hammered a free kick to the far post, which led to a goal initially awarded to Harry Maguire (£5.5m), assisted by Nemanja Matic (£5.0m) but later given as a Lewis Dunk (£5.0m) own goal.

VAR also overruled a Brighton penalty early into the second half, given against Paul Pogba (£8.0m) for catching Aaron Connolly (£5.5m) as he chased a March pass. A hectic resumption saw a second Man United goal ruled out, before Rashford scored a wonderful strike after being fed down the left channel by Fernandes. The 22-year-old cut inside and sent poor Ben White (£4.5m) flying with two dummies, before eventually finishing with his left foot.

After Fernandes advised FPL managers to “choose Anthony Martial (£9.0m) because I will give a lot of passes to him”, the Frenchman’s owners will be disappointed to see Rashford get this through ball as Martial toiled in another game without attacking returns. It will be difficult for managers to stick with him when there are so many attractive options up front, such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.3m), Raul Jimenez (£8.5m) and Danny Ings (£8.4m).

“We tried to press but they’ve got really good ball players at the back. When we were low, you can see we don’t have the legs or sharpness still. But we’ll get there.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Rashford’s goal stated his case for being selected as the Manchester United option, as did netting one of the disallowed strikes. Re-classified as a midfielder this time, Rashford may be just short of penalty-taking responsibilities but he would have claimed an extra 26 goal and clean sheet points if he was in midfield last season.

He may even get the occasional spot-kick, although Fernandes’ recent quote saying: “If someone comes to me to ask to take a penalty, I will not fight every time. I can easily say ‘You take it’”, already looks outdated after this match. That is now five consecutive away league wins, although they face Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal amongst their difficult next four outings.

Mason Greenwood (£7.5m) returned to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s starting line-up after being benched for last Saturday’s shock 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace. He was in great form during Project Restart and ended last season with ten goals, although vastly outnumbering his xG (expected goals) total of 2.91 could be interpreted in different ways. Is he a fantastic finisher, or was it a fluke?

However, if they fail to sign Jadon Sancho or anyone else in his position, Greenwood could end up being the best way to squeeze in some Manchester United coverage. He scored the other disallowed goal and looked bright, until being replaced late on.

“I thought we had scored with the last kick of the game. I don’t know where the extra time in added time came from, but we’re bitterly disappointed to concede in the way that we have because it’s a cruel blow after what was a good performance from us.” – Graham Potter

Brighton were the better, more progressive team of the first half and would have been comfortably ahead had it not been for the frame of David de Gea’s (£5.5m) goal. Trossard was twice denied by the post after being given the ball by Steven Alzate (£4.5m), becoming the first Premier League player to hit the woodwork twice in one game since Ings in January. He made it a hat-trick late on, thumping a left-footed shot off the crossbar.

It wasn’t just him. Adam Webster’s (£4.5m) looping header landed onto the bar, with March agonisingly hitting the post after the break. No team struck the woodwork more than three times in a match last year – the desperately unlucky Brighton did it five times here. Perhaps Graham Potter will want to check that the goal’s height was correct, as Spurs did on Thursday night.

Trossard was fantastic again. The Belgian scored against Chelsea on the opening day and assisted during Brighton’s convincing 3-0 win at Newcastle. He delivered five goals and five assists last season but head coach Graham Potter often rotated him, removing him from Fantasy radars. Yet he has played the full 90 minutes of all three matches so far – once their fixtures improve, he could be a very interesting option.

Up next for the Seagulls is trips to Everton and Crystal Palace, before hosting West Brom and travelling to Spurs. Regardless of opponent, the exciting Lamptey will be a good player to own. The pacy right wing-back turns 19 on Wednesday and bagged his third assist from three games, two of which have come from winning penalties. This follows his man of the match display at Newcastle, although that 57th minute withdrawal means he is still without a clean sheet. Mathew Ryan (£4.5m) remains a solid option in goal based on a balance of save and clean sheet potential.

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION XI (3-4-3): Ryan; Dunk, Webster, White; Lamptey, Lallana (Gross 75’), Alzate, March; Connolly (Jahanbakhsh 75’), Trossard, Maupay

MANCHESTER UNITED XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Matic, Pogba (Fred 65’); Greenwood (Bailly 83’), Fernandes, Rashford; Martial (van de Beek 90’).

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2,236 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Dynamic Duos
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    McCarthy showed up

  2. RAFA THE GAFFA
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Ings and McCarthy! KEEP THE FAITH

  3. Gudjohnsen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Why do we play this game?

  4. Cok3y5murf
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Of course McCarthy keeps a CS now... of course

    1. Dynamic Duos
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Patience

    2. Fred54
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Two dubious decisions saved him as well.

  5. Puntillimon
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Saints double up paying off 😀

  6. Threat Level Midnight
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Lol my team I Wilcarded out of last week is going nuts. This is crazy.

    1. Fred54
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Always the way.

      1. Threat Level Midnight
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Should have just done the simple Auba/ASM>Sterling/Podence and left it.

    2. Bank$y
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Going nuts in a bad way?

      1. Threat Level Midnight
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        No, a very good way.

        McCarthy
        KWP-TAA-Egan-Justin
        Bruno-Auba-Rashford-ASM
        INGS-Kane

        Steer-Brewster-Bissouma-Mitchell

    3. Manani
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      same lol
      McCarthy KWP Adams all killing it

  7. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    McCarthy and Ings

  8. Captain Vantastic™
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    McCarthy and KWP!

  9. BigBillyBass
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Can someone please explain to me how on earth Reece James gets 1 bonus point after such a pathetic performance?

    1. Threat Level Midnight
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      He actually looked pretty good

    2. Dynamic Duos
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      His performance was great

    3. jason_ni
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      cross, cross, cross, cross, cross,cross,cross,cross, and one more cross = good bps for defenders

    4. BigBillyBass
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      The game’s gone

    5. Pacer.
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Guy played well. Can't blame him for useless strikers

    6. The Suspended One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      No lost baps for falling asleep on the back post and playing their whole forward line on side

      I like his potential but he needs to learn when to cross and when to carry the ball, we don’t get points for him blasting crosses to nobody

      1. x.jim.x
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Literally did get one point for it

  10. Peter Ouch
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    5 returns out of 5 with C to play!
    Not bad

  11. BIG TONES
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Ok wrap your eyes around this WC!

    Martinez
    Robbo - Doherty - Saiss
    KDB - Bruno - Son - Townsend
    Ings - Jiminez - Maupay

    Subs: Nyland - Anguissa - Lamptey - Dunne

    1. Fred54
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Why Townsend?

      1. BIG TONES
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Best I can get for 6.0 - has returns in every game so far, and decent fixtures.

    2. Twisted Saltergater
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Salah is on penalties too.

      1. BIG TONES
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        I guess this is an example of a non-Salah team. I think I can get more value out the 12 mil by spreading the funds as I wouldn't plan to captain him any time soon.

  12. Firmino
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Ings -> Martial, what a move

  13. Chilli Heatwave
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Havertz -> 4.5
    Brewster -> Ings

    Worth it?

    1. Jdpz
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      keep Havertz.

  14. jason_ni
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    I really really dislike ings..
    Brought him in gw22/23 last year, goes on a run of blanks up to the break, i ship him out and he starts scoring again.

    Have him in my team this year gw1, nothing, ship him out for gw2, and he then decides to start scoring again.

    He is my ultimate troll

    1. MSTRKRFTSMN
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Him and Aubameyang. C***s the pair of them

  15. Atimis
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Werner Bissouma to Jimenez Foden?

    Or Ings?

    1. Chilli Heatwave
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      100%

  16. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Southampton has good fixture. PATIENCE

  17. Bobby Digital
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    McCarthy bonus?

    1. Pat Bonner
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Nope

  18. pundit of punts
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    KWP CS

    Glad I held onto him on WC

  19. white heart pain
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    RMWCT
    Martinez
    TAA Saiss James
    Salah KDB Son Foden Podence
    Werner DCL

    Nyland Dunne Mitchell Brewster

    Very template?

    1. Kryptonite666
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Still keeping faith with Werner ?

    2. Obi Wan Elokobi
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Foden To Barnes
      Werner to Jimenez or Ings

  20. Karan14
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    I swear if I get Ings now he'll stop scoring!

    1. Fred54
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Thankfully plenty of other forwards scoring...

    2. RAFA THE GAFFA
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Look class last season and in lock down. Not sure why he isn’t more popular

  21. Big_Bear
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Kane (c), Son & Davies tomorrow.
    All my eggs in a Cockerell shaped basket.

  22. Brosstan
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    McSharty f**ing troll
    ... Go play in traffic mate

    1. Dynamic Duos
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      You 1st

      1. Brosstan
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        On my daily schedule mate.. but I'm used to it

  23. Dynamic Duos
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    James and Hames not turning up with the points today, but their performances were great, really happy with them.

    1. Brosstan
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      You got an undeserved bonus point.. be happy

  24. dshv
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Asm to podence?

    Keep werner for one more week ?

    1. Kryptonite666
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      First is a no brainer. Second depends on how patient you are, I’m getting rid

  25. Gudjohnsen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Mark and Joe captained Werner.

    1. Pat Bonner
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Ouch. Joe’s had a bit of a shocker to start season

    2. The Sociologist
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Looked the easiest fixture on paper...

  26. Kryptonite666
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Any suggestions on how I can fit DCL and Jimenez both in this team ?

    McCarthy
    TAA Robertson KWP Taylor Justin
    Salah KDB Son Foden (Anguissa)
    Mitrovic Werner (Davis)

    1. Third Eye Vision
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Only if you downgrade a red def I reckon. One of them to Saiss.

  27. SHOWSTOPPERRR
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Guys Martial to Jimenez free or martial and soucek to dcl and foden -4 to avoid price rise /drop for all these players

    Current attack is

    Salah son kdb podence soucek
    Martial werner Brewster

    1. BrockLanders
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Second one looks decent

  28. FPL Blow-In
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    14 points sitting on my bench in McCarthy and Bertrand and I have Shaw and James in my team ffs

  29. Pat Bonner
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Does this need a wildcard?

    McCarthy steer
    Vinagre Taa Justin Taylor Mitchell
    Salah kdb Soucek Hrod Rashford
    Werner Mitrović Brewster

    1. dshv
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      No! I am the same..

      1. Pat Bonner
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Cheers

    2. BrockLanders
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Not for me. Keep the faith

      1. Pat Bonner
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Thanks

    3. Bobby_Baggio
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      No I like it. Werner to Jimi

  30. Bobby_Baggio
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Werner to >>

    A) Jimi
    B) DCL

    Rest of forwards are: Ings & Mitro

    1. Pat Bonner
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

      1. Bobby_Baggio
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Cheers pat