Why Wilder didn’t start Brewster as Mitrovic suffers nightmare outing

SHEFFIELD UNITED 1-1 FULHAM

• Goals: Billy Sharp (£5.8m) | Ademola Lookman (£5.0m)
• Assists: Jack Robinson (£4.4m)
• Bonus: Lookman x3, Sharp x2, Chris Basham (£4.9m) x2

Sunday afternoon was one to forget for Aleksandar Mitrovic (£5.9m) and his FPL owners.

The Serbia striker missed a penalty after 57 minutes, skimming the crossbar with Aaron Ramsdale (£4.9m) well beaten.

The forward then managed to foul Jack Robinson (£4.4m) – who had earlier conceded a penalty – during a melee in the Fulham area.

That passage of play led to a Tom Cairney (£4.9m) chance on goal but after the VAR reviewed Mitrovic’s challenge on the Blades substitute, a spot-kick was awarded.

Billy Sharp (£5.8m) made no mistake with his penalty, firing home to earn the home side a point.

It went from bad to worse for Mitrovic in added time as the Fulham hitman headed wide twice from close range following deliveries by the impressive Ademola Lookman (£5.0m) and Cairney.

On the striker, Fulham boss Scott Parker commented:

It was painful for him but he has earned the right [to take the penalty]. Today wasn’t his day but he has scored and assisted a lot of goals. This is someone we owe a lot to. He will dust himself down and go again.

LOOKMAN PASSES EYE TEST

Having impressed from the bench in Gameweek 4, Lookman put in another eye-catching performance against Sheffield United.

It was his goal after 77 minutes that gave Fulham the lead. The winger, having received the ball from Cairney, lost it again but persevered to beat a couple of Sheffield United defenders before hammering an effort past Ramsdale from inside the box.

At just £5.0m, Lookman might be a player worthy of addition to FPL watchlists with Fulham’s fixture list looking decent until Gameweek 11.

BREWSTER LEFT TO SIMMER

Chris Wilder decided not to make immediate use of Rhian Brewster (£4.5m), with the former Liverpool striker named on the bench for Sunday’s bottom-of-the-table clash.

The budget forward entered the fray after 63 minutes and immediately made an impact by setting up a shooting opportunity for Enda Stevens (£5.4m).

The Irishman, who moved back to his regular wing-back berth after Robinson replaced the injured Max Lowe (£4.4m), attempted to return the ball to Brewster when he might have been better off having an effort on goal.

Apart from that moment, Brewster was unable to impact on proceedings from a Fantasy perspective but the profligacy of Oli McBurnie (£5.7m) could mean that the budget FPL option will make Chris Wilder’s XI in Gameweek 6.

On the new signing, the Blades boss said:

It was a big decision before whether to start him. I believed he only had 50 minutes in him so I thought the best way to introduce him would be off the bench, as we did, and get his first minutes as a Sheffield United player.

It’s difficult because younger players get caught up in between the under 23s and the first team and sometimes maybe don’t get up to speed as quickly as they would if they were part of the first team.

John Fleck (£5.8m) was due to be part of the starting team against Fulham but a back injury picked up on Scotland duty will sideline the midfielder for a period.

Wilder explained:

John was due to start today but unfortunately he has picked up an injury and is out for four to six weeks.

SPURNING CHANCES

McBurnie was the chief protagonist in a dominant first-half display from Sheffield United but not in the manner the Scotland international might have hoped.

Having already headed wide from a Chris Basham (£4.9m) cross after 10 minutes, the forward spurned a glorious opportunity as he nodded a Basham delivery at Alphonse Areola (£4.5m) from six yards out.

McBurnie then failed to get a decisive touch on a low Stevens cross, putting it across the Fulham goalkeeper rather than towards the net.

On his team’s display, Wilder commented:

Delighted to get a result, disappointed we didn’t come in at half time upping the game. We were a little bit more like our old selves in the first half and had control of the game.

But we were not like our old selves in the second half. First half us, they dominated the second half.

It is a bit of a battle at the moment, a bit of a grind but delighted to get something out of the game.

Along with McBurnie’s missed chances, the Blades also had a goal ruled out in the first half for offside after Fulham debutant Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.5m) turned a Sander Berge (£5.0m) cross into his own net.

Wilder’s opposite number Parker also recognised that it was the cliched ‘game of two halves’ at Bramall Lane and believes that Fulham are turning a corner in terms of performance, saying:

I thought in the second-half performance we were exceptional. In the first half, we came with a bit of plan, we needed to tinker things at half time and the players responded very well.

Second half I saw a dynamic team, a team that could create chances and I was pleased overall in that sense. Still plenty of learning and plenty of improvement to do. A young team with young players coming in and making their debuts. Overall pleased.

Playing against a very well-drilled side here and their formation can cause you problems. We tried to nullify their threat. On the counter-attacking side, I thought we looked deadly. Pleased with that but probably need to be a bit more clinical in these moments.

The team is going in the right direction, not just today. The last performance as well was very pleasing. From where we were in the first three games where we had our struggles we appear to be coming out of that and pushing in the right direction.

Sheffield United XI (3-5-2): Ramsdale; Stevens, Egan, Basham (Sharp 81′); Lowe (J Robinson 19′), Lundstram, Norwood, Berge, Baldock; McGoldrick (Brewster 63′), McBurnie.

Fulham XI (4-2-3-1): Areola; Robinson, Ream, Adarabioyo, Aina; Cairney, Anguissa; Lookman, Loftus-Cheek (Lemina 81′), Cavaleiro; Mitrovic.

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LESSONS LEARNED FROM FPL GAMEWEEK 5

• Everton 2-2 Liverpool
• Chelsea 3-3 Southampton
• Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
• Newcastle United 1-4 Manchester United
• Sheffield United 1-1 Fulham
• Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
• Tottenham Hotspur 3-3 West Ham United
• Leicester City 0-1 Aston Villa
• West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Burnley
• Leeds United 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers