Scout Notes

Penalty-taking El Ghazi outperforming Grealish as goal-scoring run continues

Chelsea 1-1 Aston Villa

  • Goals: Olivier Giroud (£6.7m) | Anwar El Ghazi (£5.8m)
  • Assists: Ben Chilwell (£6.1m) | Matty Cash (£5.0m)
  • Bonus points: Giroud x3, Cash x2, El Ghazi x1

A GREAL G

Anwar El Ghazi (£5.8m) is making a strong case to replace Jack Grealish (£7.8m) in Fantasy Premier League teams after scoring for Aston Villa in their 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

The Dutch winger now has five goals in as many appearances since Gameweek 12, the most of any colleague during that time.

Crucially, the penalty-taking El Ghazi has vastly outscored Grealish over the last five matches – an impressive feat for a man who can offer a £2.0m saving on top of his points potential.

In that time, the cheaper of the two has scored 42 points, averaging 8.4 points per game.

Meanwhile, Grealish has contributed just two attacking returns since Gameweek 12, both of them assists, for a total of 19 points (3.8 per game).

ROTATION PROOF?

Anyone considering El Ghazi can take additional comfort from Dean Smith’s comments after the draw at Chelsea.

Despite a gap of just two days between Villa’s Gameweek 15 and 16 matches, he made just one change to his team – and even that was enforced. Tyrone Mings (£5.4m) missed out due to suspension so Ezri Konsa (£4.7m) and Kortney Hause (£4.4m) were paired together at centre-back for the first time this season.

That meant El Ghazi, Grealish, Bertrand Traoré (£5.9m) and Ollie Watkins (£6.1m) comprised the front-four once again and, it must be said, none of them looked as if they were suffering from the busy schedule, each putting in a gut-busting shift.

“I’m a big believer that you want to play every game. That’s what footballers want. If they doing well, keep playing them. I didn’t name the team until today but I wanted to check they were alright but I’m still yet to see a player carried off the pitch due to exhaustion.” – Dean Smith

Smith may not be entirely accurate with the second half of that quote (I’ve seen plenty of players forced off with exhaustion and/or cramp and I’m close to half his age) – but his commitment to keeping the same team is encouraging for Fantasy managers.

His squad was possibly helped by the postponement of a Gameweek 11 hosting of Newcastle, as that afforded them 12 days of rest at the start of December – a luxury few other clubs have enjoyed this Christmas.

Either way, looking ahead, it will arguably be much easier to predict the Villa line-up and invest with confidence compared to many other teams – perhaps until they suffer another bad patch of form.

Villa’s short-term fixtures could play a part in that as they face Manchester United (away) and Spurs (home) in the next two Gameweeks – perhaps warranting pause before jumping straight into signing El Ghazi.

LAMPARD LOTTERY

By contrast, Frank Lampard wreaked havoc with Fantasy teams on a day where Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£8.0m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£11.7m) were handed an unexpected Blank Gameweek.

Three of Chelsea’s four most-popular assets, Kurt Zouma (27.0%), Timo Werner (14.0%) and Reece James (12.8%), missed out on a place in the starting XI against Aston Villa as Lampard managed the minutes of his squad.

Zouma and Thiago Silva‘s (£5.6m) absences was simply down to the volume of games played recently but in the case of James, he was left out of the squad because of a “minor” hamstring problem suffered after recent issues with his knee.

Despite playing the full 90 minutes, Ben Chilwell (£6.1m) still caused some Fantasy anguish. After losing over 855,000 owners over the last four Gameweeks, the left-back now has the same number of assists in that time (two) than he did during the first 12 league matches of the campaign – and he nearly scored a wonder-volley in the closing stages.

Meanwhile, it was noteworthy to see Christian Pulisic (£8.2m) start a second game in two days and manage to last 90 minutes each time – perhaps suggesting he can offer a robust route into Chelsea’s attack for matches against Fulham (away) and Leicester (away) in Double Gameweek 19.

“Christian was really bright which is great when he’s played two games close together, fitness-wise.” – Frank Lampard

That said, Fantasy managers should keep an eye on any breaking news coming out of the Manchester City camp in the next few days.

Their trip to Everton, originally scheduled for Monday, was postponed due to an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, putting their Gameweek 17 trip to Stamford Bridge in jeopardy too.

“It’s something we’ll discuss considering we’ve got them at the weekend. It’s something I’ll have to pick up with the medical team and the Premier League.” – Frank Lampard

Chelsea XI (4-3-3): E Mendy; Chilwell, Rüdiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta; Mount, Jorginho (Havertz 72′), Kanté; Pulisic, Giroud (Werner 72′), Hudson-Odoi.

Aston Villa XI (4-2-3-1): Martínez; Targett, Hause, Konsa, Cash; McGinn, D Luiz; El Ghazi (J Ramsey 81′), Grealish, B Traoré (Davis 87′); Watkins.

2,089 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Leonard hatred
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    I've got Son, Kane, Dias and Cancelo in my team, i also brought Lacelles in early because he was back in training to cover for the blank GW - seems i'll have 6 playing this week 😀

    Am starting to wonder if the teams that weather the current COVID outbreak will be less subsceptible to it in future, antibodies and whatnot, or if i'm just trying to talk myself out of taking loads of hits to fix my team 😀

    1. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Still just 2 confirmed our so far, many managers much worse

      1. Leonard hatred
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        yeah, fer sure - not feeling too sorry for myself.

        I've already given up on a top 10k finish, am languishing at 400kish with the auto-pickers and dead teams, but this is going to make my ML an uphill struggle!

        1. RamaJama
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          GL, you can still make it!

  2. Le Bluff
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Enjoy the games tonight, fellas.

    Feels like we won't get many more in a short while!

    1. THFC4LIFE
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Yep I agree, have a feeling this will be the last fixtures for a while

      1. Le Bluff
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Agreed. Feels like there'll be, at the very minimum, a football 'circuit breaker' soon.

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

      Yeah tomorrow's games off probably

      1. The Polymath
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Keep dreaming

    3. Wizardh
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      All DGW plans fall in water..

    4. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Are you bluffing?

      1. Le Bluff
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Nah. Cases are surging, Premier League posting highest cases yet etc. Feels like only a matter of time until football is shut down for a while.

  3. Flair
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Taylor needs to absolutely haul so I can look at a green arrow when the season gets postponed

    1. Baines on Toast...
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      It'd be nice to make the top 10K just in time...

  4. jdp219
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    No Coufal. So my team is hinging on Kilman to field 11.

    1. Halftime
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      You are lucky to have 10

      1. jdp219
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        I realize that. Just lamenting still having Kilman in the team.

  5. OverTinker
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    have Son only and most in my ML have Kane and spurs defender so not a loss - but have Son(V). Hope Salah plays

  6. sully29
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    The two and three points from Villa players yesterday suddenly looking like a haul.

    1. Flair
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      500k green arrow worthy surely

  7. Bram
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    So we lost Man City game and now Spurs is a worry - clearly covid is on a FH18 srategy

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

    Depends how many players at Fulham infected

    If more staff and fringe players are infected, the game might still be on like the Sheffield one tonight.

    1. Flair
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Very true. Hope it is

    2. Wizardh
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      When it's fulham in question they will have to play. If it was Spurs they would get postponement like City..

    3. The Polymath
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      True. How many of the 18 are from Fulham once we remove City and Sheff U? Not forgetting the odd one from other clubs.

  9. Wizardh
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    So all the DGW plans will be useless now?

    1. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Save FH for dgw, then you can decide the entire team close to kickoff

    2. FPL.team
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      How can you know that now? Wait and see

  10. Niho992
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Main rival has Son(C) and Kane (VC). Come on postpone the game. Health is more important than football..

  11. Dybala10
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Congrats everyone who is able to field 11 men this week. Worst time to take a minus 4! Bring Coufal on please.

  12. FPL price manipulators are …
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    All because of Xmas

    1. Baines on Toast...
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      yep. all the spikes have been predictable - holiday returns, family gatherings.

  13. Bambi
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Anyone know why Balbuena isnt in squad?

    1. Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Looking after Coufals kid tonight

  14. CheesyZoot
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Lockdown with no football to watch is 100x more boring.... 🙁

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

    Kdb to son disaster to ultra disaster..

  16. Bubz
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Kdb to Mane wouldve been a sexy transfer

  17. Kodap
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Meslier
    Dallas - Dier - Taylor
    Salah (c) - KDB - Bruno - Soucek
    DCL - Kane - Bamford

    Subs: Martinez - Stones - Coufal - Burke...

    If the FUL v Spurs game is called off tomorrow, looks like I might only be able to field 7/8 hahaha

  18. Niho992
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Any reliable source for Spurs game get cancelled?

    1. Rotation's Alter Ego
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Athletic reporting it as an exclusive, but it's just at risk, nothing close to confirmed

      1. Niho992
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Cheers

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

      Jose posted a sad face on his insta.

      1. Bollard
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        a selfie? 🙂

    3. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Just speculations

  19. Rash
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Kane Captain salah vice 🙁

    1. Niho992
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Same. Salah will play.

    2. Big boy Bowen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Same, Liverpool game fine though right?

  20. SuperXstyle
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Do Spurs have Covid? Sprry I have just seen a few comments?

    1. Nate(U)dog(ie)
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Cases in the Fulham camp

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

      No they always play like that....

      1. FFSbet.com
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        😀

  21. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Kane & Son vs Fulham U23s?

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

      Game will be off

      1. Big boy Bowen
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Depends how many and who - players/staff

    2. FFSbet.com
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Hope its played,Kane(C)

      1. Big boy Bowen
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Same

    3. The Polymath
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Game definitely on.

  22. Nightcrawler
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    No chance pool Newcastle off now

    Almost no cases from either club in latest results

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

      Hope your right

  23. Camzy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Is there a Scoutcast tonight?

    1. Nimby
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      I believe there is.

  24. Pointless
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Any idea why Balbuena hasn’t made the WHU squad tonight? I couldn’t afford Coufal so got him instead with double gameweek in mind but could have used 2 points from him tonight as an auto sub with postponements! Is he injured?

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

      Same position as I am..bisouma the Oly bench now I have..

    2. Turbo Timo
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Well Coufal is benched too so not much lost mate 🙂

  25. FFSbet.com
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Spurs off?
    Uhh ohh triple Spurs,KDB,DCL,Dias need hauls from Brewster,Taylor,Neco

  26. Rotation's Alter Ego
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    How does Potter actually pick his team, genuinely impossible to predict

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

      I think he throws darts at a list of names

    1. Ginkapo FPL
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      That is the dailymail

    2. circusmonkey
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Hope so, so all the Kane and Son owners don't get any points.

      1. Qaiss
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        That’s all that matters to you right?

      2. Old Man
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        What a nice, friendly, generous, selfless person you are.

        1. El Presidente
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Ah ah ah

  27. Nightcrawler
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    If its fulham then at least spurs leeds looks good for the weekend if games still go ahead

  28. Bury94
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    Is it Fulham or Spurs with the reported positive cases?

    1. Nimby
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Fulham I think.

    2. The Wanton Trader
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Fulham

    3. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Fulham

    4. dunas_dog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      Fulham

  29. Nimby
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 3 months ago

    The premier league are discussing a proposed two-week break apparently. How awful.

    1. Baines on Toast...
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      source?

        1. Baines on Toast...
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          Thanks. Would make sense to let Christmas impact settle down and get testing back in order

          I don't think there is any chance they pause it for as long as last time

    2. Deulofail
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      This is like WWII all over again

      1. Deulofail
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        WWII-II

      2. alastair
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        Hardly.

        1. Deulofail
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          No sh*t

    3. Wild Rover
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      What will that achieve? Any games that can be played should be

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

        Exactly

    4. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 3 months ago

      “Two week”

      1. Deulofail
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 3 months ago

        "too weak"

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

        Correcting me?

        1. Deulofail
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 3 months ago

          "Correcting-me"