Scout Notes

Another Martínez clean sheet as Watkins matches Grealish’s recent output

ASTON VILLA 1-0 ARSENAL

  • Goals: Ollie Watkins (£6.3m)
  • Assists: Bertrand Traoré (£5.9m)
  • Bonus: Watkins x3, Emi Martinez (£5.2m) x2, Matt Targett (£4.8m) x1

Mart investment

Martinez pounces on a through ball ahead of Bukayo Saka

Emi Martinez (£5.2m) helped Aston Villa to their 11th clean sheet of the league season with three save points at home to former club Arsenal.

A nine-point score in Gameweek 23 makes it seven times, from 21 appearances in this campaign, that Martinez has returned over six points.

Despite conceding three goals on two occasions in the past five Gameweeks, Dean Smith’s side have recorded shut-outs in each of the other three fixtures.

On the goalkeeper and his side’s defensive performances, Smith explained:

“He [Martinez] was disappointed on Wednesday, he felt he’d made a mistake for the goal. Certainly didn’t make any mistakes today. That’s 11 clean sheets, I think the most we’ve had for a long time. He’ll be happy with the people in front of him, who protect him really well. But when he’s called upon, he makes good saves. We’ve been very good at holding onto leads. There’s a doggedness about the players, a great team spirit. You could hear them at the end, the last five minutes; it was the noise you want to hear on a football pitch when people are trying to protect a one-goal lead.” – Dean Smith

After their immediate return to winning ways, Villa travel to Brighton in Gameweek 24 and have two fixtures outstanding – against Everton and Spurs – that require rearranging.

They could also have another game for the re-schedulers to deal with if Sheffield United beat Bristol City in the FA Cup fifth round next Wednesday.

There are FPL options from back to front in the Villa squad and, once the fixture schedule is updated, heavy investment can be expected for Martinez and his colleagues.

Ollie Watshins

Ollie Watkins puts Villa ahead against Arsenal

Ollie Watkins (£6.3m) is timing his recent form nicely, in light of future Double Gameweeks.

He scored after two minutes by pouncing on an early mistake from Arsenal left-back Cedric (£4.6m) whose backwards pass to Gabriel (£5.0m) allowed Bertrand Traoré (£5.9m) to nip in and tee-up the forward.

Crucially, Watkins now has four goals in his last five matches, securing bonus points for the first time since Gameweek 8 on Saturday considering his effort proved to be the winning goal.

“Bit of confusion at the back for them. I’ve hit it, I think it’s come off my left foot, hit the defender and then gone in. But I’ll take that.” – Ollie Watkins on his winning goal

Villa boss Smith has been as much of a fan of Watkins this season as his owners have of late. His gut-busting, selfless style helping to transform Villa’s fortunes and making him a key, undroppable figure for the team.

“He’s in double figures for goals now in the Premier League, which is fantastic in only 21 games. The distance he covers in a game is tremendous, at a high speed. I don’t think any centre-halves this season have had a second to rest on the ball when he’s about. He’s got a good knack of knowing where the net is and being in the right place. We started at a good intensity. We charged down balls from Arsenal and pounced on errors.” – Dean Smith

Those considering how to invest in Aston Villa moving forward will certainly be wondering how Watkins has compared to Jack Grealish (£7.8m) of late.

Against Arsenal, the FPL midfielder managed just two points following an injury-time yellow card making for a seven-point disparity between their two Gameweek scores.

Still, Grealish has 30 points across his last five matches (six per game), and was Saturday’s top creator (four key passes) while Watkins has 29 (5.8 points per game).

Arguably, those numbers suggest an attacking double-up is hardly a ridiculous prospect, especially considering Villa’s remaining fixture rearrangements.

But the case for Watkins is certainly there, considering he has effectively matched Grealish’s output over the last five matches for a saving of £1.5m.

Artful dodger

Thomas Partey was forced off through injury in Gameweek 23

Arsenal’s run of impressive attacking displays is looking more and more distant from each week to the next.

Following their blank at Villa Park, the Gunners now have just one goal in their last three matches, after netting 10 across the four outings prior to that.

Accordingly, owners of Leeds defenders might be tempted to start them in Gameweek 24 while Manchester City’s impressive back-line is set to host the Gunners in Gameweek 25.

Arteta still believes Arsenal have something to offer in attack though, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.3m) approaches the required fitness to consistently start matches again.

“We completely dominated the game. We dominated every department and we should have won the game. I’m extremely disappointed to lose and the way we lost it. We were the better team. We controlled every department but we gave them the ball. We gave them another three big chances. Then when we had to score the goal, we didn’t find the right pass or the right shot. They were better in the boxes and that’s how you win games. We created enough opportunities.” – Mikel Arteta

Team expected stats from Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Despite Arteta’s feelings on the encounter, it was Villa who racked up the higher ‘expected goals’ figure in the early Gameweek 23 kick-off.

Thomas Partey (£4.9m), meanwhile, could be sidelined again after leaving the pitch with an injury in the second half. Arteta explained:

“He had a muscular issue. We had to take him off, he could not continue playing.” – Mikel Arteta


Aston Villa XI (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Targett, Mings, Konsa, Cash; McGinn, Nakamba; Grealish, Barkley (Ramsey 76′), B Traoré (Trezeguet 66′); Watkins.

Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Ryan; Cedric (Odegaard 65′), Gabriel, Holding, Bellerin; Xhaka, Partey (Willian 73′); Pepe, Smith Rowe, Saka; Lacazette (Aubameyang 58′).

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169 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Ruudy Van
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Is the best option, build team for 26 and bench boost.

    OPTION A
    29 get as many playing as I can.
    30 WC
    OPTION B
    29 wildcard with say 6/7 players. So I then have a good squad going forward 30 onwards.

    Current team. 1FT 7.7ITB. Will keep Bruno despite single and look to shift the other singles? Requires 4 or 5 transfers.

    Martinez* Pope*
    Targett* Dier* Dias* Stones* coufal
    Salah* gundo* Bruno soucek Burke
    DCL* Bamford Antonio

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I don't think you want to max out on dgw for the sake of it.

      Man City 3 but rotation risk. Pope and a Burnley defender for the Fulham game.

      Everton's second match is Man City.

      Doubles like blanks are part of the path, but not the main focus of the game.

    2. WVA
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Do we know what's happening 26 yet?

      1. AC/DC AFC
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I thought people were sitting tight for the FA Cup games to unfold.

      2. Ron_Swanson
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Not for sure but there will be lots of doubles

    3. Ron_Swanson
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Assume you don’t have FH. I am going to WC 25, BB 26 and FH in 29. TC will be opportunistic

      1. AC/DC AFC
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I've got everything except BB.

        I just saw how loads over planned and got fixated on the Leeds v Southampton double, which could easily have been 1-1 at that time.

        We go again as the cliché says...

  2. WVA
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Should I bench boost with the below? Yes or no.

    Martinez Bamford Dallas Coufal

    1. Bavarian
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes

    2. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      It's definitely worth considering.

      Maybe you should compare it to the other weeks you'd be planning BB to have a better ideas if it's worth using it this week.

      1. WVA
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I don't really know what other weeks I would bench boost, when is the biggest DGW likely to be? I could WC the week before that then BB.

        1. Karan14
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          GW26

          1. WVA
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            I could WC 25 and BB 26 if that's gonne be better?

    3. Poetry in motion
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      If you don't have FH, yes

  3. Bavarian
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    2FT and 2.8 ITB

    Martinez-Areola
    Robertson-Dias-Dallas-Coufal-Holding
    Salah-Son-Bruno-Soucek*-Bissouma
    DCL-Bamford-Antonio

    What to do next?
    deal with Soucek or find a replacement for Robertson? and to who?

    1. ‘Tis the Season
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Soucek will have RC rescinded

  4. Jordan.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    gw19 24
    gw20 22
    gw21 14
    gw22 28
    gw23 14 +ederson and trent

    last 5 benches lol still got bb chip as well ,fecking covid ,cant wait to have a 17m bench again...

    1. Nomar
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Bench scores almost as good as my starters scores.

      1. Jordan.
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Bench problems chief protagonists
        ederson ,nailed way into city defense ,but leaves martinez benched
        justin ,stuck with trent,robbo and cancelo far too long
        cresswell ,see justin
        soucek same as the rest of humanity

        solution trent,robbo,soucek all sold ,ah so some progress,aaargh dcl benched gw23, meh

    2. Toby Lerone
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Take it you benched DCL like me

    3. Donny_Rover
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      That’s rough, mine haven’t been quite so high over that period but for the full season I’ve had almost 300 points (highlight was an Ollie Watkins inspired 30 in GW4). Looking forward to wildcarding and not having the benching dilemma every week...

  5. Jebiga
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Anyone knows or at least have on mind which teams will have dgw 26 ?
    Whats your oppinions, whats most likely scenario ?

    1. Ron_Swanson
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Check Ben Crellin Twitter

  6. Bollard
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    I’m tempted to Captain Fernandes @ wba next week instead of rotation risk dgw city asset. Think just havin 3 city assets might be enough.

    1. Nomar
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      You may be wise to do so.

    2. WVA
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Currently have the captain on Bruno too

    3. OPTA FPL
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Pope (c)

  7. Poetry in motion
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    When will we know if Soucek will be suspended?

    1. Ozzy smith
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Tomorrow I think

      1. Poetry in motion
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Thank you

  8. Toby Lerone
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    7 gameweeks on the bounce where my captain has failed to get returns. So annoying. Anyone else having a similar rough time

    1. Nomar
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I’ve had 11 captain blanks in a row. Every one of them has failed since I capped KdB in GW11.

      1. Toby Lerone
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Wow unlucky mate. I'm going for DCL next gw so avoid him haha

        1. Pedersen
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Same here. Mate please have some decency and sell him if you even own him for our sake?

      2. Mr. O'Connell
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Damn, that's rough.

    2. Mr. O'Connell
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Bruno goal yesterday was only my 2nd return in 11 gameweeks (1 goal, 1 assist, no bonus points in that time). Fair few struggling. Will it get better? Probably not.

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

      Same

    4. Jordan.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      i had 8 out of 9 ,bruno eased it a little, but still managed to be under par ,silly rashfords glaring miss cost bruno 12 extra points

    5. Tcheco
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Keep the armband for 3 or so GW on a player with decent form & fixtures. Usually works for me when on a run of captain blanks

      1. Mr. O'Connell
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Did that for 5 weeks of Salah blanks (curse) after that cameo Palace haul.

        1. Tcheco
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Good decision, just unlucky. Now try Bruno 🙂

    6. ebb2sparky
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      GW17 was my favourite.
      KDB -13
      Son - 13
      Bruno - 10
      Salah - 2

      Obviously I captained Salah

  9. Bavarian
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Best replacement for Robertson 5.3 max
    A-Stones
    B-Shaw
    C-Mee
    D-Other

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

      I did mee

    2. Tcheco
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I went Mee but Pieters is looking good

    3. Poetry in motion
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Stones

    4. Jordan.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      rudiger

  10. Mweene
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Kane scores a hat-trick today.

    1. Bavarian
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      high probability

    2. FPL Pillars
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      As long as Son assists all I would be OK with it.

    3. Jordan.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      tis season21 highly possible

    4. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Source?

    5. The Ilfordian
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Any update from the tweet yesterday that said he'd be involved today?

  11. Tcheco
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Who would you play in GW25?

    A. Pope (WBA)

    B. Meslier (wol SOU)

    1. Bavarian
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B

    2. Now I'm Panicking
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Meslier

  12. Donny_Rover
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Current GW25 team:

    Martinez (Meslier)
    Dias Cancelo Mee Coufal (Justin)
    Gundo (c) Salah Fernandes Grealish (Soucek)
    Watkins Antonio (Bamford)

    Worth doing Antonio -> DCL and then Soucek to Raphinha the following week?

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I agree with the Soucek to Raphinha switch.

      I guess DCL too.

  13. JurgenRodgers
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Who would you sell to get DCL

    Antonio
    Watkins
    Bamford

    Or just get Digne?

    1. Jordan.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      antonio ,far too fragile

    2. Flair
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      None.

    3. Donny_Rover
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I’m in the same boat, weighing up bringing him in for Antonio. Not sure though as the longer term plan (maybe even in the next couple of weeks) is that Kane takes that spot and given that one game of the DGW is City, is that really worth it? Antonio could quite easily bag a couple vs Sheff Utd after a rest in the FA Cup so I’m on the fence with this one at the moment.

    4. Groot the Leveller
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Not convinced at the moment that i need to jump ship from any of the cheapy fwds.
      I had dcl up to gw 17/18, so I like his regular returns.... but I can't see them being so much better than Watkins or Bamford etc...
      Everton were looking a bit inconsistent but I was impressed in the manu game as opposed to the Newcastle game.
      I'm monitoring and will wait to 26 when fixtures improve

  14. IRBOX ⚽
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Who are your Soucek autosubs? Hoping some of you get DCL

    1. FPL price manipulators are …
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      😎

  15. EL_FENOMENO
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Why is Antonio not flagged?

    1. Groot the Leveller
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Apparently Moyes said he was fatigued, not injured