Scout Notes

Bamford’s colleagues on Fantasy radar as Southampton blank again

West Brom 0-5 Leeds

  • Goals: Ezgjan Alioski (£4.5m), Jack Harrison (£5.4m), Rodrigo (£5.7m), Raphinha (£5.4m)
  • Own goals: Romaine Sawyers (£4.8m)
  • Assists: Patrick Bamford x2 (£6.5m), Mateusz Klich (£5.5m), Stuart Dallas (£4.8m)
  • Bonus points: Dallas x3, Rodrigo x2, Alioski x1

Leeds United’s attack is starting to look very appealing from a Fantasy Premier League perspective as they put five goals past West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night.

Fashionable striker Patrick Bamford (£6.5m) continues to tick along, registering an eight-point score in Gameweek 16, but his colleagues are increasingly playing their part.

In the last four Gameweeks, matches involving Leeds have featured an average of 5.3 goals, their own tally for the season already at 30. In fact, in netting five at West Bromwich Albion, the Whites became only the second newly-promoted Premier League side to score 30 times over their first 16 games, after Newcastle netted 31 in 1993/94.

Could such statistics suggest a double-up on Leeds’ attack is something Fantasy managers should consider in the coming weeks?

“It was a game where we defended well and we were efficient up-front. From eight chances we scored five and that helped the result. We played a serious game throughout and we managed the ball well.” – Marcelo Bielsa

Raphinha (£5.4m) was a constant threat at the Hawthorns on Tuesday night, his well-deserved 71st-minute effort his third attacking return since Gameweek 13.

Likewise, Rodrigo (£5.7m) and Jack Harrison‘s (£5.4m) first-half strikes were their third goal-involvements during the same period, each of them scoring and assisting in the 5-2 win over Newcastle.

But the exciting options are not limited to the midfield and forward positions as Stuart Dallas (£4.8m) demonstrated his Fantasy appeal once again in Gameweek 16.

Operating on the right-hand side of Leeds’ defence, the Northern Ireland international got forward often, making the most of Lee Peltier (£4.0m) having to cover for Kieran Gibbs (£4.3m) at left-back at short-notice.

As a result, Dallas added his second assist of the campaign and, like Raphinha, Harrison and Rodrigo, it was his third attacking return since Gameweek 13.

Crucially, Dallas benefitted from a second clean sheet in as many Premier League outings for the Whites – as did Ezgjan Alioski (£4.5m), whose first-half goal was his second in the last four Gameweeks

The question is, of course, can Leeds sustain this impressive run of form? After all, their last four matches have taken them through one of the easiest runs of games they have faced this season.

Their wins in that period came against Newcastle, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion but Gameweeks 17 and 18 hand Marcelo Bielsa’s men a trip to Spurs and a Blank.

Perhaps Double Gameweek 19 is the best time to consider making a move for more Leeds players considering they play two home fixtures against Brighton and Southampton that round.

With festive rotation especially rife in Gameweek 16, it is noteworthy from a Fantasy perspective that Bielsa named an unchanged side between Sunday’s win over Burnley and Tuesday’s trip to the Hawthorns – suggesting that Leeds assets will be more nailed-on to play twice in Double Gameweek 19 than those from other clubs.

West Bromwich Albion XI (4-1-4-1): Johnstone; Peltier, O’Shea, Ajayi, Furlong; Sawyers; Diangana (Krovinović 73′), Gallagher, M Phillips (Ivanović 46′), C Robinson; Grant (M Pereira 61′).

Leeds United XI (4-1-4-1): Meslier; Alioski, Struijk, Ayling, Dallas; K Phillips; Harrison, Klich (Shackleton 58′), Rodrigo (Hernández 70′), Raphinha (Costa 81′); Bamford.

Southampton 0-0 West Ham

  • Goals: None
  • Assists: None
  • Bonus points: Jack Stephens x3 (£4.6m), Alex McCarthy x2 (£4.7m), Jan Bednarek x1 (£4.8m), Ryan Fredericks (£4.2m)

It was a mixed Fantasy night for owners of Southampton and West Ham assets, especially considering the level of rotation on offer for the Tuesday’s visitors to St Mary’s Stadium.

Two days after Sunday’s draw at Brighton, David Moyes took Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m), Fabian Balbuena (£4.4m), Issa Diop (£4.3m) and Ben Johnson (£3.9m) out of his defence for Gameweek 16, ensuring none of them could benefit from the Hammers’ first clean sheet since Gameweek 9.

The silver lining to that frustrating development was a surprise return for Michail Antonio (£6.2m), named on the bench and featuring for the last 13 minutes ahead of West Ham’s encouraging Double Gameweek 19 fixtures (home matches against Burnley and West Brom).

Thankfully, he came through his first minutes since Gameweek 10 without further damage and is certainly one to watch if he can get back into the starting XI in time for January’s chip season.

“Yes he has (come through the match unscathed), that’s a big boost. We’ve missed him, we’ve been muddling through a bit without him, trying to find ways of getting goals from other sources. We have to tread carefully with him, be patient with him.” – David Moyes

Similarly, Danny Ings (£8.3m) was a surprise injury-returnee, starting for Southampton and lasting 90 minutes.

However, there was nothing the striker could do to stop Southampton going goalless for a third successive Premier League match.

Ings did not register a single shot or touch in West Ham’s box on Tuesday, the first time he failed to do either in any of his 54 90-minute Premier League outings.

VAR played a cruel part in that particular statistic, considering he had a first-half goal ruled out for an offside against Che Adams (£6.1m), who went off in the 57th minute – but Southampton have generally struggled to offer much going forward recently.

They are winless in their last four league games, their longest run since going eight without a Premier League victory from September to November 2019.

Still, silver linings remain for Fantasy managers, not least those invested in either Alex McCarthy (£4.7m) or Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.8m) as Southampton registered a seventh clean sheet of the campaign, playing out back-to-back Premier League goalless draws for the first time since October 2018, when Mark Hughes was in charge.

The fact that both of those shutouts have occurred without first-choice centre-back Jannik Vestergaard (£4.9m) is to the Saints’ credit, although McCarthy was called into action a few times to keep them in the game as Jack Stephens (£4.6m) strives to get back up to speed having started just twice between Gameweeks 8 and 15 before Tuesday night.

Fredericks got up for a header at the near post in the first half, calling Southampton’s goalkeeper into action.

And a poor Stephens clearance in the closing stages, which sent the ball on an unhelpful vertical trajectory, was nearly pounced upon by substitute Saïd Benrahma (£6.0m) before McCarthy smothered the close-range effort.

Such incidents indicate the defensive returns might not last for Southampton, especially knowing that Vestergaard could be out until the end of January.

And, of course, the Saints’ fixtures hardly look encouraging from a clean sheet perspective, Liverpool (away), Blank, Leicester (away) and Leeds (away) their fixtures for the next three Gameweeks.

Southampton XI (4-4-2): A McCarthy; Bertrand, J Stephens, Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Djenepo (Armstrong 78′), Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Walcott; Adams (S Long 58′), Ings.

West Ham United XI (4-1-4-1): Fabianski; Cresswell, Ogbonna, Dawson, Fredericks; Rice; Fornals, Souček, Lanzini (Benrahma 60′), Yarmolenko (Bowen 72′); Haller (Antonio 77′).

1,763 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Duke Silver ☑
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Fulham don't have the same funds as City to get this called off 😉

    1. turd ferguson
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Pretty much

  2. M2.0
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    According to VAR the mach is ON by 1 centimetre

  3. Rotation's Alter Ego
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Sounds ominous...

    "Guess I don’t need to travel into sky studios for game today then.... #Spurs"

    https://twitter.com/Mrjamieohara1/status/1344288210067795968

    1. Rotation's Alter Ego
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Still no official sources, just this pundit who's likely speculating.

      1. Whazza
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Does not sound like speculation to me..

        1. Rotation's Alter Ego
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          The TV companies are surprisingly loose-lipped - if they have been told, I expect more reports to come out very quickly.

          1. No Professionals
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 2 months ago

            Kaptain Kane makes a great point...

    2. Duke Silver ☑
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      He's probably just been sacked or something 😆

    3. Sun Jihai
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Game off

    4. turd ferguson
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      That’s game off.

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

      Game is on Amazon Prime not Sky

      1. No Professionals
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        ha ha that is a great point

      2. Wild Rover
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        They still have guests in the studio at Sky

      3. Whazza
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Oh lol

      4. Rotation's Alter Ego
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        That's a very good point 😆

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

      Midfield legend for Chesterfield

    7. Rolls-Royce
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I think it's just a tongue in cheek given the situation. Well played.

    8. Studs Up
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Sounded more like a question than a statement

  4. 272MK
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Is Robbo playing or not?? Pls stop toying with my feelings

    1. drughi
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      very reliable source have milner starting ahead off him

    2. Whazza
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Expected bench

    3. Gudjohnsen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      99% chance he's benched.

  5. DA Minnion (Former great)
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Someone somewhere knows.

    1. El Presidente
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      And at some point so do we...

  6. Gudjohnsen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    If the game is on I think Son and Kane both haul.

    1. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      You were saying it's off a minute ago.

    2. Salah’s Sonnet
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Start* not haul

  7. Jafooli
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    FPL has turned into a total sh1t show.....

    1. turd ferguson
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Everything is a turd show

    2. Chucky
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      😀

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

    Robertson please play. Rest the next game if necessary, atleast the bench might be better then

    1. Nate(U)dog(ie)
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      So will the opposition

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

    Anyone got Bowen? Thoughts on getting rid of him or nah?

  10. JJeyy
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Guess I don’t need to travel into sky studios for game today then.... #Spurs - Sky reporter

  11. brianutd-why always we? 20
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    It’s off

    1. No Professionals
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      yeah that looks more reliable

    2. Nate(U)dog(ie)
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Well there it is

  12. Whazza
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    @AlasdairGold
    · 1m
    I understand Spurs' match tonight against Fulham is off. Premier League decision and both clubs have been informed.

  13. Chucky
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    OFF '

    1. Luton_Fan
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Ffs

  14. Pukki Blinders
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I understand Spurs' match tonight against Fulham is off. Premier League decision and both clubs have been informed.

  15. Salah’s Sonnet
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Literally no idea why Robertson even needs to be benched

    1. Whazza
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Serious?

      1. Salah’s Sonnet
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Of course

        1. Whazza
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Have a look at his minutes and consider his style of playing.

  16. diesel001
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Spurs match off. Lovely. Getting KWP's 5 points off the bench for Kane.

    1. No Professionals
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      strange that your hopes for Kane at home to Fulham were less than 5 points.

      1. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Realised points in hand always worth more than potential points.

        1. No Professionals
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          so if you had 4 points from Taylor on the bench, and Fernandes to come away at WBA you would happily take the 4 points?

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

      Lots getting 0pts for their Spurs players seeing as City wiped out a lot of benches - getting 5 will be way above average this he wins out. Especially true if he doesn't own Son

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

    As someone with 3 x Man City players, Tottenham game being called off would be fair.

    Only ones hard done by will be those not free hitting in BGW18. It’s really harsh on them.

    1. Weeb Kakashi
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Here. Im Glad its off. Hope whoever is affected gets well soon.

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

      Indeed - those of us building a gw18 getting slaughtered - 3 City 2 Spurs here

  18. Chucky
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Juicy DGW for Spurs inc... 😀

  19. No Professionals
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    wonder if we'll get any decent notice on the games involving city and fulham in gw17? I only have Dias luckily.

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

    Gutted

  21. Pukki Blinders
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Non Spurs winners are the winners once again 🙂

  22. Captain Vantastic™
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    LOL

  23. turd ferguson
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    This is getting boring now.

  24. how now brown cow
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Gold is a reliable source. That's that then.

  25. Free Hit Questions
    RedLightning
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    There have been a number of questions recently about the Free Hit chip. This is what the FPL website says:

    "After playing your Free Hit chip, at the next deadline your bank balance and squad is restored to as they were at the previous deadline, with any player price changes in the previous gameweek reflected."
    This means that all transfers made during the gameweek in which you play your Free Hit will count as part of that Free Hit even if you made them before activating the Free Hit; they will disappear along with all the others when your squad is restored at the next deadline.

    "Please note that when playing either a Wildcard or your Free Hit chip, any saved free transfers will be lost. You will be back to the usual 1 free transfer the following Gameweek."
    So you only get one free transfer the week after your Wildcard or Free Hit, never two. You can't save a free transfer over the Wildcard or Free Hit - use it the week before your Wildcard or Free Hit or you'll lose it!

    1. Amey
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Good post.
      Now stick it up to HT's till GW19 deadline 😀

  26. Kodap
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Legit fielding 7 players if Spurs is off..

    1. notlob legin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Same here